Immortal Waltz
by FullmetalVampire123
Summary: Hunters threaten the existence of the 6 vampire races. They must learn to coexist despite their differences in order to survive. Dance In The Vampire Bund/Rosario Vampire/Vampire Knight/Twilight/Cirque du Freak/Chronicles of Vladimir Tod
1. Friends

"Vampirism was one of the most demonic outbreaks of mass hysteria ever to sweep the world. Its origins are rooted at the beginning of time and almost all of them are founded on superstition."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Hime-san, are you sure you want to go through with this?"

"Of course, Akira! I know what I'm doing; don't doubt me!"

Akira Kaburagi Regendorf sighed, and watched Mina Tepes twirl around in front of a mirror, looking at a dress she was thinking of wearing.

"Gathering all six vampire races in one place doesn't sound like such a good idea…" he grumbled.

Mina motioned for one of her maids to remove the dress. They did so quickly, and she began to try on another.

"Trust in me. My entire goal is to unite the entire vampire species. I've done so with our race in the Bund. I'm not requiring the other races to do so simply because it would become overpopulated, _however, _it seems to be a bad idea to let them run amuck and do as they please. The leaders of the other races have not contacted me since before I established the Bund. I need to speak with them, or risk losing control of my people!"

She looked at the new dress in the mirror.

"Too fluffy. Fine something more… elegant. I'm a vampire queen, not a Disney princess."

Akira chuckled a bit.

"Akira, can you name all the races?" asked Mina.

"Uhm… Let's see… There's your race, which is referred to as the First Race. It's ruled by you, obviously. There's the Vampi, which consist of vampires and vampaneze. They are closest to humans in term of abilities, and are led by Vampire Princes-"

"How many princes?"

"Five?" he said, though it was more of a question than an answer.

"Correct. Continue."

"Uh… the Royal Bloods, which are made up of mostly, well, royals and led by Kaname Kuran."

"Yuuki Kuran is helping him now, remember?" she asked while changing dresses.

"Yeah. Let's see… The Elysians. Led by… the Council of Elders?"

"I'm not even really sure anymore," stated Mina. "Some half-vampire boy screwed up their entire system of rule. A man named Otis Otis-"

Akira laughed.

"-is coming to represent them, along with the boy. Vlad. Or whatever. And a girl. Snow. I could really care less. Their race is extremely weak and simple-minded."

"Let me finish! There's the Cold Ones, led by the Volturi brothers, Aro, Caius, and Marcus. And the Nosferatus, led by Issa Shuzen."

"Good! You remember all that, I'm proud."

Now wearing nothing but underwear, the vampire looped her arms around her werewolf servant's neck.

"Are you ready to deal with all of them, though?"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Princes! We have received an invitation from her majesty, Mina Tepes!"

Mika Ver Leth looked up from the book he had been reading to find a guard waving an envelope in the air above his head.

"Invitation to what?" he grumbled, looking back down.

"Now, Mika, this is Queen Mina!" said a white haired man to the right of Mika.

"Yes, Paris, I know."

Paris Skyle frowned at his fellow prince, then turned to the other, Arrow.

"Any interest, Arrow?"

"Of course!" bellowed the large prince. "We have not heard from Hime-san for quite a while."

"Read it, loyal guard," commanded Paris.

"'To my dear princes of the Vampi race, I cordially invite you to a ball in my newly established Vampire Bund in Tokyo. It would be an honor to me for you to attend. Sincerely, Mina Tepes, queen of vampires.' That is all, my princes."

"We shall attend," declared Paris. "Someone must notify Darren and Vancha, for I assume she wishes that all princes will attend."

"Yes, my prince. We shall send out messengers to inform them," said the guard.

"Very well," said Mika. "You are dismissed."

"Yes, my prince."

The guard turned and left the Hall of Princes.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Kaname-sama!"

Aidou Hanabusa came rushing down the hall of the Kuran mansion with a red envelope in his hand.

"What is it, Aidou?"

"We've received a letter from Hime-san!"

Kaname raised his eyebrows.

"Give it here."

The blonde vampire handed the envelope to the pureblood and stepped back. Kaname read it quietly, nodding and mumbling to himself.

"What's going on?"

Yuuki leaned over the hand railing on the stairs. Her waist-long hair draped around her.

"We've received an invitation to a ball from the queen of vampires."

"Queen?"

"Aidou hasn't told you?"

Kaname looked blankly at Aidou, who blushed profusely and backed up.

"Uhh… we haven't quite gotten to that yet."

"No matter, I'll tell her myself," said Kaname, rising from his spot on the couch.

"There are six vampire races. In the beginning, there was only one. Each race has its own royalty, its own way of governing its people. However, the ruler of the first race rules all the races. She is Mina Tepes."

Kaname had made his way over to Yuuki and wrapped his arms around her.

"In recent years, there has been some unrest in the vampire community. If Mina does not produce an heir, the second race will take over."

"Are we the second race?" asked Yuuki, looking up at him.

"Aha, no. We are the third. The second race is quite powerful. They hold women in high respect, but the current ruler is male. He did have four daughters, though, so the House of Shuzen will soon be home to a women's intuition yet again."

He placed his head in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply.

"Aidou, please respond and tell Hime-san that we will be attending."

"Yes, Kaname-sama."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Hime-san?"

"Yes, Vera?"

Mina looked up from her desk.

"We've been unsuccessful in our efforts to attain Vladimir Tod's address."

"Someone knows where he is," she said, twirling a pen.

"Yes. We got word from a friend of his. We've sent a Beowulf agent to meet up with them."

"Good."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Lord Aro! Lord Caius! Lord Marcus!"

Felix Volturi pushed open the heavy doors to his masters' throne room, holding a blood red envelope in one hand.

"It's from Mina Tepes."

"Hand it here, Felix," said Aro.

The guard handed the envelope to the vampire. Aro tore it open with one of his nails and pulled out the parchment inside. He read silently for a moment, and then turned to his brothers.

"The Queen has invited us to a ball in her newly established 'Vampire Bund.'"

"Ah, heard about that. Shall we attend?" inquired Caius.

"Seems like an interesting occasion," murmured Marcus.

Aro turned back to Felix.

"Write back and tell Hime-san that we will attend. It'll be good to see her after all this time."

Felix turned and left the throne room.

"Brother, do you wonder if the Cullens received an invitation?" asked Caius.

"Of course! Even without their great taste in music, they are wonderful people to be around."

Caius scoffed.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Moka Akashiya stood in her usual spot in front of the dorms, waiting for a certain Tsukune Aono to arrive. She held an opened envelope in her hands, fiddling with it while patiently waiting.

Tsukune was right on time.

"Ohayo, Moka-san!"

He waved and smiled brightly.

"Tsukune! I have a bit of a favor to ask you…"

"You can ask me anything, Moka."

"I received a letter from my father last night. There's a ball for vampire royalty coming soon, and he asked that I bring you with me."

She paused.

"I'm required to go. He really wants you to come, though."

"When is it?" he asked.

"This weekend. I know it's short notice but-"

"I'll come."

"-and I just really- wait. You'll come?"

"Of course! It sounds fun."

He scratched the back of his head and grinned.

"Oh, thank you Tsukune!"

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug. He blushed.

"Mm, Tsukune… your blood…"

"Eh?"

Moka bit his neck.

KAPPUCHU~

"AUUUUGH!"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Hime-san, the rulers have all sent back saying they will come," said Vera.

Mina was lying on a couch in her office, sipping on some Stigma.

"Good. And the Tod boy?"

"Our Beowulf agent reached his friend, and the friend took word back to Vladimir. There is no word back, but we will know on Friday night when they show up or not."

"Sounds good. I didn't expect such a fast reply… Akira!"

"Yes?" he responded sleepily.

"No one told you that you could go to sleep yet."

He grumbled something incoherent before sitting up straight and adjusting his shirt.

"Go and tell Wolfgang that we'll need to beef up security for this weekend's ball."

"Now?"

"No, next month. Yes, _now, _Akira."

He growled before getting up and exiting Mina's office and heading towards the Beowulf headquarters.

**EDIT: When the site updated, all my pretty line breaks with spacing disappeared :C If you read the story now, they should show up!**


	2. Trinity Cross

"The vampire is the night-prowling symbol of man's hunger for - and fear of - everlasting life...The mixture of attraction and repulsion...is the essence of the vampire concept."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Akira, are you prepared to welcome our guests?"

"Of course, Hime-san."

Mina was wearing a black dress with a turtle neck collar that was almost skin tight around her torso. It was long, and came down to the tops of her feet, with red trim decorating it in numerous places. The dress was sleeveless, and Mina had on some fingerless gloves that came up past her elbows, also with red trim.

Instead of wearing his Beowulf uniform like the rest of security, Akira was dressed in a rather sharp looking tuxedo with long coattails. Underneath we wore a red vest and a white dress shirt with a red bowtie. A pair of red suspenders stylishly hung down beside his legs.

"If my suspicions are correct, I assume the Shuzen family will be the first to arrive," stated Mina.

"Wanna bet on that?" asked Akira, smirking.

"No thank you. Although I do guarantee you they will show up first."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Looks like we'll be the first there, father!"

Kokoa grinned as she looked out the tinted windows of the limo. They were approaching the security gate outside the Bund.

"Tsukune."

The boy's eyes widened. This was the first time Issa had addressed him directly. He was deathly terrified of the majority of the people in this car. Neither Moka (okay, maybe a little) nor Kokoa were intimidating, but he already knew what Kahlua and Akua were capable of. The only time he'd ever seen Issa was in Moka's memories, and just the aura the man held was terrifying.

"Y-yes?"

"Would you do us the honor of removing Moka's Rosario?" he asked kindly.

"S-s-sure!"

"_About time," _spoke Inner Moka's voice from the Rosario.

Tsukune rolled his eyes and pulled the ornate cross from its chain. There was a bright glow and a slight burst of energy, and when the energy in the air dissipated, there was Inner Moka.

The number of people in the car that Tsukune wasn't afraid of had gone down from 2 to 1.

"You're shaking," noted Moka.

"N-no I'm not! Whatever gave you that idea?" Tsukune replied, grinning widely.

Moka shook her head and Issa gave the boy a curious look.

"You have an odd taste in friends, my daughter."

"You got that right," said Kokoa. "Are we there yet?"

"In fact, we are!" said the driver who just happened to be Gin.

"Remind me why we bought the pervy mutt?" asked Kokoa.

"Werewolves are acceptable bodyguards," stated Moka.

"We don't need bodyguards!"

"It makes us look classy."

The red-headed vampire rolled her eyes. Gin brought the limo to a stop, and then zipped around to open the car door for them. Two Beowulf agents were standing outside.

"Shuzen family?" asked one.

"Yes," Issa replied after exiting the limo.

The agent opened the heavy door for them and the stepped inside with Gin being the last one to follow after handing the keys to the valet.

"Nice digs, pal," he said one of the agents.

The agent gave no response, and Gin frowned.

"Whatever."

He jogged to catch up with the vampires (and Tsukune).

"I told you so," came a high pitched female voice from the room ahead.

"I never contradicted you!" said another lower, male voice.

"Hush, Akira! They're coming!"

Another agent pushed open the doors to a large room where a little girl sat in a throne with a teenage boy standing behind her.

"Welcome, Issa. Long time no see," said the girl.

"Sorry I did not pay you a visit sooner, Hime-sama."

"Wait," Tsukune whispered incredulously. "_That's _the Queen of Vampires?"

"Were you expecting someone else?" asked the girl.

"Ah, no! No!" he said defensively.

The girl smiled.

"I am Mina Tepes, and this is my bodyguard, Akira Kaburagi Regendorf. Welcome to the Bund."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

The Volturi were next to arrive, followed shortly after by the Cullens (who were kindly asked by Mina to provide music for the occasion). Kaname and Yuuki showed up followed by several other groups of their kind. Last to arrive were the Vampire Princes (the Tod boy never showed up).

"I'm still worried about this, Hime-san."

"Don't be, Akira. I know exactly what I'm doing."

Gathering all the vampire races' leaders in one area was a risky move, and it was just like Mina to do that.

The guests had been shown to their rooms by some of Mina's servants and given 2 hours to prepare for the ball.

The Cullens were brought to the ballroom early to set up a stage for musical performances.

The ballroom was large and dark, most of the colors being different shades of red, black, and brown. There were no windows as some species of vampires attending were sensitive to sunlight, and the ball was being held in the evening while the sun was still out. The back wall was covered in an ornate wooden design with a large, dark red tapestry decorated with golden trim hanging in the center. Underneath it, on a raised platform, sat several thrones, all of different design.

On the far right, there were two Victorian styled thrones, both made from a combination of black wood and black steel with forest-like designs, belonging to the Kurans.

Next, a set of three very royal looking thrones carved from black wood with gold designs on the arms and sides of the back, belonging to the Volturi. At the top of each throne, there was a circle. Inside each circle there was something different: the one on the far right (Caius) held some string in an odd design, the middle one had a slab of stone (Aro), and the one on the far left had a green design that looked like a close-up of a leaf (Marcus).

In the center, there was a large, gaudy gold throne with fancy designs that belonged to no other than Mina Tepes herself.

Beside that there were five more thrones, all different, that were made to seat the Shuzen family. The first, and the closest to Mina's spot, was Issa's, and it was a dark and overly large, Transylvanian-esque throne with lots of carvings of death and skulls. The next was Akua's, and it was a black with silver lining, very straight and formal throne (nothing too fancy). Beside that was Kahlua's, a large, bright white throne with some gold trim here and there, looking like it belonged to a princess rather than a vampire such as herself. Then Moka's throne, a black and red masterpiece with silver trim that was decorated with rubies and crosses. Finally, there was Kokoa's throne, which was smaller than the others and made from a chocolate-colored wood that was carved in a gaudy pattern just like her father's.

And on the very far left there were five thrones belonging to the Vampire Princes. They were all identical, and carved from stone with the same ornate design.

Akira watched the Cullens set up amplifiers on the stage. He was still nervous about this evening's great gala, and he couldn't calm himself.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Two hours had passed and everyone was making their way to the ballroom. The Shuzen family was patiently waiting in a holding area outside the ballroom for they and the other royals were to be introduced after everyone was inside.

Issa was wearing a fitted black pinstripe suit with a high-collared black cloak over top of it. Tsukune was wearing a plain black tux with a silver vest and a silver cloak. Moka wore a slim fitting red dress that came down a few inches past her knees with a slit on the side in the middle of her left thigh that accentuated all her curves. Akua had on an oriental style sleeveless black dress with a high collar and a gold dragon pattern on it. Kahlua didn't look any different than she usually did since she always dressed like a princess. Kokoa was wearing an orange, sleeveless dress that stopped right above her knees. Tsukune thought it was a bit frilly for the young vampire's tastes and thought that maybe Issa or Gyokuro had picked it out for her.

They were soon joined by three men in black cloaks followed by several more in gray cloaks and formal wear.

"The Volturi," said Moka, answering an unasked question. "A sort of government-like system that rules over the Cold Ones."

"Cold Ones?"

"The fourth race of vampire."

"Fourth?"

Moka sighed.

"Consider this part of your training. There are six species of vampires. The first is simply called the First Race, and it's the species ruled by Mina-sama. Since she rules the first race, she's queen of all races. They are harmed by sunlight and they drain their victims dry, lest the victim be turned into a vampire."

Tsukune nodded as if telling her to continue.

"The second is our race, called the Nosferatus. You know already that our only real weakness is water and we are unable to change a human being into a vampire without a painful process that only works half the time.

Members of the third race are called Royals, although all of them are not really royal. They do burn in the sunlight. Only their purebloods can turn humans into vampires, and if those new vampires do not feed enough or get blood from their creator they will fall to level E and become mindless monsters. Sort of like a ghoul. That's their leader over there."

Moka pointed to a tall man in a tux with messy brown hair standing in the corner. Next to him was a girl with long brown hair that looked as though she was related to him in a white dress.

"The fourth race is the Cold Ones. They are led by the Volturi, those guys you saw. They are true immortals and they can only be harmed by werewolves, fire, or other vampires. Anyone they bite either gets sucked dry or becomes one of them in three days. Most of them have horrible self control."

"And sunlight's effect on them?" asked Tsukune.

Moka laughed a little bit.

"They sparkle."

Tsukune covered his mouth to keep from laughing to hard. _Man, is that totally unintimidating! If Moka sparkled… PFFFT HA, _he thought.

"So, the fifth race?"

"The Vampi. They are the weakest race. They-"

"Out of curiosity, which race is the strongest?" interrupted Tsukune.

"That could be debated. And you're asking me. I'm pretty biased."

"So, who do you think is the strongest race?"

"Ours."

Tsukune chuckled.

"Of course. Continue."

"Alright, so the Vampi are pretty weak, although they're considerably stronger than humans. They are led by the Vampire Princes, and pretty much anybody could become a Prince through their system. Sunlight burns them and you can only become one of them through a blood transfer and some long induction system. A long time ago some of them split off and became the Vampaneze. The Vampaneze were not invited tonight since they hold strange morals and are considered to be enemies of the Vampi. They're over there."

This time Moka motioned to a group of six standing in the room.

"That's Mika Ver Leth, Paris Skyle, Darren Shan, Arrow, and Vancha March. The tall guy in the hat with them is Darren's creator, Mr. Crepsley."

"That kid is a Vampire Prince?" Tsukune asked incredulously.

"He was made one under odd circumstances. It was the only way for him to stay alive, I'm told."

"I also heard somebody mention a sixth race that didn't show up tonight," Tsukune said.

"Yes, the Elysians. Nobody knows exactly what went on but some half-vampire kid involved in a prophecy came through and tore up their government system. He turned down the invite. They're harmed by sunlight and they can drink blood without turning someone."

"And now I know," said Tsukune, grinning.

"Yes, yes you do."

"Ahem!"

A man now stood in the doorway.

"We will now begin escorting you in while you are announced, starting with the fifth race!"

Tsukune swallowed. He had absolutely no idea what was going on or how he should be acting, so he decided to just follow Moka's lead and go with it.

**Uh, hello. Little author's note here.**

**At the moment I'm trying to write from the perspectives of the characters I know best. That's why the majority of this chapter was coming from the R+V side of things. No worries! The other vampires will have their time to shine! Looking at things from their perspectives at this point would be kind of boring. I picked the R+V crew because Tsukune is still part human and he doesn't know much about the vampire world, so as Moka explains the bare bones of it all you guys will be learning too :D Plus something big is going on with the Shuzen family. A lot of this will be coming from the R+V side, the Twilight side, and the Vampire Bund side. I realize I haven't done much yet for the Vampire Knight side, the Darren Shan side, or the Twilight side yet, and it seems as though Vlad Tod won't be making it (he's still got a part in the plot but since I'm trying to stick to canon I don't know jack shit about how that series ended he's not attending the ball).**

**As for R+V, this might turn out to be totally wrong because I'm putting this after the conflict with Fairy Tale and there's a chance that people like Akua or Gyokuro will die during that. Or get imprisoned. I have no idea. Also, Issa is totally OOC because I have no idea what his character acts like!**

**Also, this isn't just boring politics and talk, we're going to get some kick-ass action too ;D**


	3. Two Pulses and Red Sins

"I am neither good, nor bad, neither angel nor devil, I am a man, I am a vampire."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

One by one, the groups left the holding room, and soon only the Shuzen family was left.

"Stay by me," Moka whispered in Tsukune's ear. "Because of your unique situation they will try to intimidate you because you are different."

"They?" he asked, worried.

"The crowds. Hush, we're going."

The man approached their group and led them out into the hallway to a set of large wooden doors that led into the ballroom. Tsukune heard muffled voices and the sound of an announcer calling out their names through the door. The doors opened and the man ushered them through. Issa lead the group out, followed closely by Akua, then Kahlua. Moka started to walk forward.

"Behind me," whispered the vampiress.

Tsukune followed her carefully, and Kokoa walked behind him. Gin brought up the rear as a guard for the family.

The brown-haired boy was in awe of the grand ballroom and had a bit of trouble keeping his mouth shut. It was huge and decorated lavishly. Thousands of vampires of all races filled the hall to the brim. As Moka had said, the ones closest to them gave Tsukune nasty looks and scowled at him. They stood straighter and showed their teeth. He felt Moka reach back and pull him closer to her. Tsukune wasn't affected much at first, but after they kept coming as he walked down the center, he started to become scared.

"Don't let them see your fear," she spoke quietly.

Tsukune sucked in his gut and showed them his best tough guy look. In his mind he pictured Saizo, Midou, Hokuto, and every other monster that had ever challenged him. He put on his best determined look and the vampires started to back down a little. They backed up and made more way for them to walk, but they still held their cross faces.

The group approached the thrones, and each vampire took their seat.

"Stand by me," spoke Moka.

He did as he was told and stood tall and proud beside Moka's throne as she made herself comfortable.

Gin (who was looked more honorable and serious than Tsukune had ever seen him) stood beside Kokoa's throne at the end, taking the space between the Shuzen family and the Vampire Princes.

"And now, please welcome our ruler, our queen, the great **Mina Tepes!**" called the announcer.

She entered gracefully, wearing a beautiful, black and red gothic dress. It fit her perfectly and drew attention to her as she made her way down the aisle. Everyone bowed down as she walked by, though the royals stayed seated. Tsukune wondered whether or not he should bow, but as he looked down at the other royals' guards and guests, they stood tall, so he did too. Akira walked behind her, giving the other vampires stern looks. They reached the throne and Mina seated herself while Akira stood tall beside her as Tsukune did for Moka.

Mina cleared her throat.

"Welcome, everyone! It is a pleasure to have you all here," she began. "I'm grateful that the majority of you accepted my invitation, though the Elysians will not be joining us tonight."

People in the crowd began speaking softly, but stopped when Mina continued.

"As you all know, it is my dream for vampires and humans to coexist, to live in harmony."

Further down the line of thrones, the white-haired member of the Volturi scoffed. Mina acknowledged this with a scowl, but continued her speech.

"I give each of you leaders the choice to keep your race in the shadows or reveal them to the humans. I will not pressure you into doing so, nor will I ever require you to. Living in the Bund is also an option to your races, and, once again, I will not require that you do so. I only ask that you consider these options."

She continued her speech, thanked each of the leaders personally, and then turned the spotlight to Issa.

"Lord Shuzen has an announcement to make, if I am correct?"

He rose and stepped to the front of the raised platform to stand beside Mina.

"Yes. As you all know, I have four, lovely daughters: Akua, the eldest and most distinguished, Kahlua, the kind but fierce assassin, Moka, a powerful and graceful fighter, and Kokoa, a feisty and brutal warrior."

He raised his hand and motioned to each of them.

"When Kokoa was born, I made the announcement that instead of having the eldest inherit my position, I would choose an heir to my throne."

Moka visibly tensed up, and he placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her. She gave him a quick look before faced the crowd again.

"After watching their actions closely over the past few years, I have chosen my heir."

Tsukune could practically feel the anticipation in the air. It was coming off the crowd in waves.

"My heir, the daughter who will inherit my throne and all the power and riches that come with it, will be…"

He could hear the four siblings grinding their fangs as their father paused for dramatic effect.

"Moka!" he called out.

Her eyes went wide in shock as the crowd erupted into applause, and she looked around and pinched her leg to see if she was dreaming. Akua slammed her fist down on the armrest of her throne and laid back looking around with fury in her eyes. Kahlua looked over to her younger sister and congratulated her. Kokoa, though slightly disappointed, knew she had little chance of becoming the heir and leaned over to praise her Onee-sama.

Moka rose and walked towards her father. Issa embraced her and turned to the crowd with an arm around her shoulders.

"Over the years Moka has proven to me that she is just like her mother: strong, determined, and an excellent fighter! She is truly Akasha's daughter, and the perfect choice to take my place."

Tsukune joined the applause from his place by her throne, and Issa glanced back at him.

"While we are congratulating people, let us give Moka's friend, Tsukune Aono, a hand! For all he's been through with her, he deserves it," spoke Issa.

Tsukune stared at Issa in shock. _Did he just congratulate me? I thought he hated me! _Tsukune stepped forward to join the two vampires, still clapping and confused.

Behind the three of them, Mina smiled.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Edward! How's the playlist going?"

The bronze-haired vampire looked up at his sister from his laptop. The Cullen family was in charge of making sure the ball's music went just right for everyone. Edward had been given the hard chore of checking in on the computer-run playlist of high class dance music. It was running smoothly so far, but the vampire was sure it was going to glitch at some point through the evening.

"It's going well so far," he responded.

"Well, get out here and have some fun!" called Alice. "Bella wants to dance."

"Bella's not back here running a complicated computer system that could stop working any minute," he growled.

The system was located in a small space behind the large stage that he and his family had set up several hours before. It was dark and only lit by the computer screens and flashing lights on the numerous boxes controlling the sound. Edward was sitting in the one chair in the middle of all the cords and boxes with his tuxedo jacket discarded, his bowtie undone, and his sleeves pushed up past his elbows.

"God, you're a mess. Look, I'll get Jasper back here to work on it for a while, go have some fun!"

She pushed him into a standing position and started fixing his tux. In no time he was back to looking gorgeous.

"Here, pull your hair back."

Edward's hair wasn't exactly long, but it wasn't short either. It came down near the bottom of his neck. Alice pulled out a small hair band and pulled his messy reddish-brown hair into some semblance of neatness. The bronze-haired vampire smiled and thanked her. He headed out to greet his wife.

"Bella!"

"I thought you'd never come out of that hole!" she exclaimed, embracing him.

"So, _you_ of all people wanted to _dance?_"

"Every once and a while I decided to go wild. You know how hardcore slow dances are!"

She winked.

"_Bella mia, cosa farei senza di te?"_

_(My Bella, what would I do without you?)_

"_Niente, il mio amore."_

_(Nothing, my love.)_

"You know, it's sweet that you guys talk to each other in Italian, but irritating."

Emmett had swung by the couple, holding his own wife in his arms.

"Go away Em."

"As your brother, it's my job to irritate you at least once a day."

"Emmett, you're not being very romantic," said Rosalie, who was currently locked in the black-haired vampire's massive arms.

"Sorry babe. Ed-weird needed a little fresh tormenting. He's been holed up in that DJ station we have running."

"Yeah, and I just got him out so shove off," Bella growled.

"Fine, fine!"

Emmett twirled away with Rosalie.

"Now, where were we?"

"We were about to-"

"Excuse me!"

Edward all but swung around and knocked the intruder's head off it's shoulders.

"WHAT?"

Akira jumped at the sudden outburst.

"Sorry, it's just-"

"No, I should apologize, I shouldn't have let my temper go," responded Edward calmly.

"Ah, well, Hime-san was wondering if Carlisle was around. She wishes to speak to him."

_Of course, _thought Edward.

"He's over there by the stage."

Edward pointed at the blond patriarch, who was standing up against the stage with Esme.

"Thank you!" called Akira, as he moved through the crowd towards him.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"It's been a long time, Lady Mina."

"Centuries, indeed."

Carlisle rose from his initial bow.

"I'm glad you accepted my invitation. I understand that something happened to change your standing with the Volturi?"

Carlisle's eyes shifted to look at the cloaked figures faster than a human eye could catch.

"You could put it that way."

"Carlisle, from what I'm hearing you're in a position to take over. You have an abnormally large coven, full of _talented vampires _no less! And you keep adding more! And what about these werewolves-"

"Shape shifters," he interrupted.

"Whatever! This is serious."

"I don't want to take over. I'm not threatening them. I have no intentions whatsoever, Aro knows that."

"Whether you're trying to or not, just your size is threatening!" she almost screamed.

"What, you want me to disband them? They won't separate, you know that."

Mina sighed, and placed a hand on her forehead.

"I'm just warning you. Caius has never been pleased with you."

"As long as Aro is the head we will have no trouble."

"Yes, but what if _Marcus finds out?_"

Carlisle turned his head away.

"I have faith that he will never."

"This is a big issue we must discuss."

"Mina, we will never rule. We are not fit to."

"_Dar po__ţ__i! Cu fata aia-_" she spat furiously in her native tongue.

_(But you can! With that girl-)_

"_Bella nu este de genul asta!"_

_(Bella is not like that!)_

"Carlisle, you cannot be peaceful forever," she hissed.

"I can try."

With that, he turned and headed back to his family.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

After a few more hours of upright, high class socializing, most of the crowd went home. All the younger-looking vampires were left, and there was a drastic change in attire as new groups rolled in.

All the royalty had changed into more casual clothes. The Volturi donned suits, the Shan kid switched into a dress shirt and shorts, the Kurans shed a few layers, and the Shuzens wore the most upscale modern styles. Mina herself turned to one of her more revealing dresses, and Akira was forced into some obscure, rave-like outfit, which consisted of a forest green, collared, button-down tank top, a black tie, and huge black pants that almost covered his feet.

He glanced over at the Cullens who were no longer just running the music; they were _performing._ The women of the family were very scantily clad, whilst the men were no better, aside from the redhead whom Akira had talked to earlier, who was wearing a red dress shirt and black pants with converse.

The muscular one had on nothing but a wife beater and some low hanging jeans, showing off his plaid boxers to the entire audience.

They were playing some obnoxious American rap song about having lots of money and women, and they were literally throwing dollar bills out into the crowd.

"_Oh you gotta man well you need a richer one!__Meet me in the parking lot, the plates say 'getchu1'!"_

Akira had no love for the arrogant music, and was not enjoying his job right now.

"Hime-san, is this really necessary?"

"I can tell you're not enjoying the music," she responded, laughing.

"No, no I'm not," he grumbled.

After they finished the song, the redhead looked to his siblings and mumbled something Akira's ears didn't pick up.

The blond boy picked up an electric guitar, the muscular one moved to a set of drums, the brown-haired girl picked up a bass, and the redhead moved to the mic.

"_The paranoia is in bloom, the P-R transmissions will resume! They'll try to push drugs, keep us all dumbed down and hope that, we will never see the truth around!"_

The music had suddenly changed to Akira's tastes.

"Edward reads minds," Mina said simply.

"Who's Edward?" he asked.

"The redheaded one, up front, singing."

Akira recognized him as the man who had pointed him towards Carlisle Cullen earlier.

"Edward was the first member of Carlisle's coven; he's very loyal to him."

"I see."

Carlisle himself was conversing with Aro further down the line of leaders. It looked like a rather enjoyable conversation, but Caius looked pretty pissed sitting beside the two friends. Marcus never showed emotion at all, so it was hard to read him.

Kaname Kuran was rather invested in playing with Yuuki's hair, and the Vampire Princes were speaking with members of their race that came to speak with them. The Shuzens were on the dance floor, having a good time.

Just as the Cullens were getting into the flow of the song, there was a loud explosion from outside of the room. In a matter of seconds, a herd of 1st Race vampires flew in through the ballroom doors.

The Shuzens leaped back up onto the line of royalty behind a row of Beowulf guards.

One of the Native Americans that came in with the Cullens leaped off the stage and exploded into a wolf larger than a horse. Several more followed. The Beowulf agents descended on the chaotic mass of vampires, and the werewolf brought by the Shuzens leapt off its post and and several more jumped out of the crowd with him.

"_Tutte le unitá anticipo! Go! Go! Non aspettare! __**GO!**__"_

_(All units adavance! Go! Go! Don't wait! __**GO!**__)_

Aro was screaming out commands at the guard. They were rushing out of places Akira didn't even know they were in. The Volturi had obviously brought more than they had let on.

Cloaked figures starting jumping out of the crowd.

_Waaaay more than they let on, _Akira thought.

The attacking vampires were armed with wooden stakes. They were taking down 1st Races, Purebloods, and Vampi, but they weren't having too much luck with the Nosferatus (a natural bred fighting race) or the Stregoni Benefici (aka Cold Ones, a race with skin so hard that it can only be pierced by other vampires).

The only thing you get when you try to stake a Cold One is a handful of splinters and a really pissed off vampire.

Mina was holding Akira out of the fight for now, waiting to see how things played out.

Most of the action on the floor was between the invaders and the Cold Ones, who were very adept fighters. Due to their impenetrable skin and inhuman abilities, they had quite the advantage against their 1st Race opponents.

Akira watched them very carefully.

The muscled vampire who had been on stage earlier was brutally massacring his challengers. Once finished with one opponent, he'd use its body against the others in a macabre fighting style.

The blond haired southerner was very swift with his kills. He simply knocked heads off as fast as possible to thin the numbers.

Akira couldn't even see Edward. A red blur was flying around the battlefield and in its wake was a trail of dead bodies.

The women were holding their own quite well, but the brown-haired girl appeared to not have much experience. Her fighting style was worse than the muscled guy's. She tore up everything in her path in a fit of rage, barely any technique at all, but _damn, _it was effective! She was taking down just as many as the others, albeit tearing them into gory little chunks and spraying blood everywhere.

Carlisle looked to be the most experienced, but he was taking down as few as he possibly could.

The Volturi were leading the kill count, with guard members everywhere, slaughtering the intruders. Alec would knock out his prey, and Jane had a circle of vampires around her, screaming in pain.

"_Uccideteli tutti!" _roared Caius over the sound of killing.

_(Kill them all!)_

It wasn't until a wall of 20 vampires leaped up in front of Mina that Akira acted. He transformed quickly and ripped the lot of them in half.

In a matter of minutes after it began, the fight was over and the ballroom was painted with the blood of the invaders.

One was left standing.

"**Ich bin ein Greuel, und ich hätte nie gelebt haben!" **it screamed.

_(I am an abomination and I should have never been alive!)_

Then it exploded.

The Cullens, the Shuzens, the Princes, the Volturi, the Kurans, the werewolves, and Mina were left standing, with that one sentence left echoing in their ears.

**Okay, gratuitous use of foreign languages, much?**

**I'm sorry, but there's going to be a lot of that in here. In this chapter, we had Romanian, Italian, and German.**

**Mina herself is from Romania, so she will occasionally speak Romanian.**

**The Cold Ones (or the Stregoni Benefici) do not have a point source of origin, but the Volturi are from Italy so they speak Italian. Technically, the brothers were born in Mycenaean Greece and the guard comes from all over, but they're from **_**Volterra, Italy **_**so, Italian.**

**These attackers' leaders are from Germany, so they speak German. That's why the message was in German.**

**These will be three prime languages used besides English.**

**As for Mina's conversation with Carlisle, I get the impression that the Cold Ones government system is sort of like an empire. I put it like that because the Volturi took it from the Romanians, and the as the Cullens grow larger they become threatening because size means power in their situation, and they could take the empire from them and rule it themselves if they wanted.**

**In the next chapter you'll be introduced to K.A.V. or "Kill All Vampires", the association of hunters that has created itself in order to eradicate all races of vampires!**


	4. Supermassive Black Hole

"Before I tell you my story, you must understand that there are places in _our_ world, Bella, where the life span of the never-aging is measured in weeks, and not centuries."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Despite the night's brutal events, everyone was sent to their rooms without trouble. Beowulf agents stayed behind to help dispose of the bodies with fire. Carlisle offered to help several times but each time Akira had to reject his offer. The Cullens were new in the Bund and this was specifically to be handled by Beowulf.

It was massive carnage _everywhere._ Some vampires had been properly killed and there were piles of dust lying about, while others were still half alive and brutally dismembered.

"Heeeeelp…" whispered one.

Akira looked down on it with serious eyes.

"T-troy… Ar-arix…"

Akira reached down and grabbed the creature's face.

"Troy? Arix? What do you mean?"

But the creature died and crumbled to ash before he could respond.

"Remus! Romulus!" he shouted.

"Yes," the responded automatically.

"Search for the names 'Troy and Arix.' Places, people, time periods, anything!"

"Yes!"

The duo disappeared. Akira clenched his fists.

"You've done enough, Akira. Please, go to sleep," said Mina, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Fine," he muttered, shrugging her away and heading off to his chambers.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

In the middle of the night, there was a power outage and Akira had help from some of the guests to flip the breakers back. As he returned to his room, he caught a glimpse of a ghost-like figure roaming the halls.

He froze, as her presence brought an eerie feel about the hall.

She turned to face him, as she originally had her back to him.

"Akira," she spoke airly.

He instantly recognized her.

_Isabella Cullen._

"You…" he tried to say.

She was different from before. Instead of the golden eyes of a vegetarian, hers were a bloody, bright red. Bella glided towards him.

"Akira, you will not speak of this."

"I… I m-must tell Hime-sa-"

"No, no one must know."

"Wh-why…"

A red glow danced about the air around them, and she placed a hand on his forehead. In seconds he was on the ground, never to remember what had happened.

Bella turned and walked down the hallway as silently as she had come.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"You guys are douchebags," said Akira, confronting the Cullen brothers.

"We know," responded Edward, his two brothers grinning behind him.

"Edward," said Bella.

She wrapped her arm in his, smiling up at him, gold eyes wide. Akira flinched back, but didn't know why. She was harmless, a vegetarian vampire with no threat to man. He shook it off.

"Akira!"

"Remus, did you find anything?"

Remus shook his head solemnly.

"Nothing other than Troy, as in the city from the Trojan wars. Arix leads us to no other clues."

"They're obviously not citizens of the Bund," Mina inputted. "Remus and Romulus would have found their names in the Lists."

"Right."

"I've never heard the names," said Carlisle.

"Neither have I," Aro said, appearing out of thin air.

"Nor I," stated Issa.

All the other leaders claimed they had never heard the names.

"Well, we have no other options than to run physical searches of the Bund. Wolfgang, mobilize some units to comb the city," commanded Mina.

"I will contribute some guards as well. In fact, Demetri!"

A man with long, dark red hair stepped up.

"You are the best tracker the vampire world has to offer. Even though we have given you no substances other than the invaders themselves, can you search?" asked Aro, circling him.

"Yes master," said Demetri with no emotion present whatsoever.

"Then go."

"Yes master."

His words echoed in the chamber even after he disappeared in a flash of black.

"Jane! Alec!"

Mina shuddered. Even though she was the supreme ruler of all vampires, you had to be a little bit afraid of the Witch Twins. The two child-like guards stepped up to their lords.

"You will follow and aid Demetri in his search!"

"Yes master."

They too disappeared.

"Felix!"

A hulking vampire with spiky, white-brown hair stepped up.

"You will help these Beowulf units, if Mina allows."

"Of course," she said quickly, not wanting to irk Aro.

"Very well then."

"Yes master," he said before joining the werewolves.

Other leaders offered up patrols of vampires under them, and Issa gave the Beowulf agents the assistance of Gin and his wolves.

"We'll help!" called Jacob. "Seth, Leah, and I make quite a good team of trackers."

"Our assistance is also available," offered Carlisle.

"Looks like we have a good search team assembled," commented Mina. "Alright, move out!"

The Beowulf agents and all the helpers from the other races moved out the door.

"Carlisle!" shouted the blond queen. "Your family's assistance is needed elsewhere."

He motioned for his coven to follow him back inside.

"Yes, milady?"

"You will follow Akira. He's going into the… darker part of the city. You'll follow him and assist him as needed."

"Yes, milady."

The blond patriarch waved on his family and they followed the werewolf out the doors of her castle.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"You think they'll be alright, Moka?"

"I'm sure, follow me."

Moka was still unsealed (safely, with help from her father) and she was pulling Tsukune and Kokoa off on a secret mission. Mina had ordered them to stay inside the castle with the other royalty and, because of her rebellious nature, she had placed guards by the name of Michio and Masao by their chambers.

Michio and Masao Dimir were an interesting case. Their father, Aurel, was a Beowulf member who was killed in combat a few years ago. Masao had inherited the werewolf gene and gone through standard Beowulf training. Michio, however, had not. Determined to serve Mina as well as his brother, when Masao went away for a month for his Rite of Passage, his brother went out into the wilderness for a month and week to get in touch with his "inner wolf." Michio's mannerisms and his style of fighting and movement became more animalistic than Masao's, and he became more devoted than his lycan brother. Michio was far stronger and faster than any human (his name translates into "man with strength of three thousand"), and he had trained his ears and nose to pick out sounds and scents that a normal human couldn't. Although he never quite reached werewolf level, he surpassed all humans.

The two brothers went camping when they were 16, and Michio was bitten by a vampire. Masao killed it, but they were not able to access the vaccine in time and Michio was permanently a creature of the night.

It was in this way that Michio came to serve Mina in her personal guard, a separate branch of Beowulf. Michio is not an official member of Beowulf, only a part. He is still proud to be included in some way.

So, Michio and Masao were placed as guards on Moka, Kokoa, and Tsukune. However, when Moka explained her plan to them, their devotion wavered, and they decided if the three vampires were going anywhere, they were going to follow them just so they were doing half of their job description (plus, they really wanted to see some action).

Now, the five were sneaking through the streets of the bund. Normally, the sunlight would have been a problem (even for the search groups), but it was cloudy and slightly rainy, much to everyone's delight.

They rounded a corner and almost ran straight into the patrol that Felix was roaming with, but they hid quickly enough that they weren't detected.

"So, are you guys usually this uptight?" they overhead Felix asking.

The Beowulf duo heading the patrol (who just happened to be Camille and Hyunte) did not respond to him. Felix grunted, but followed in silence.

Moka waved the others on. They moved fluidly through cracks and crevices, leaped over gaps and onto ledges, until they ran into a slightly familiar face.

"What are you doing out here?"

It was Reneesme Cullen, the half-vampire child of Edward and Bella. Tsukune briefly remembered seeing her at the ball.

"Uh, exploring. Actually, I was trying to find Jacob."

"We haven't seen him, but you're free to come with us," said Tsukune.

"Where exactly are we going?" asked Masao.

"You'll see," said Moka, winking.

After about 15 more minutes of jumping, running, and climbing around the Bund, they reached their destination.

"The top of the tallest building in the Bund?" asked Michio.

"Yep," she said, grinning. "Tsukune, do you have any idea why? No, Kokoa, let him answer."

"Um," he started. "Is it because of the amazing ability we have to sense energies?"

"Precisely! We're going to search for the energies of our attackers."

"How?" asked Masao incredulously. "We don't even know who they are, much less what their energy feels like!"

"Well, it's simple. Do you remember the message that the last attacker gave us?"

"Yeah. **'****Ich bin ein Greuel, und ich hätte nie gelebt haben.****'** I am an I am an abomination and I should have never been alive. German," recited Michio.

"The masterminds behind this obviously don't like vampires. I'm searching for something that's not vampire energy."

"But you have to remember that there's also a lot of werewolves roaming around! There are some breeds of wolves that don't like vampires that could have been responsible," commented Masao.

"We're looking for hunters," growled Kokoa.

"Hunters?" Tsukune wondered aloud.

"Vampire Hunters. I'm assuming some of them are behind this," muttered Moka. "Werewolves seem unlikely. Your breed is far too allied with Mina to do this, Gin's breed could care less, and the Children of the Moon are extinct. The shapeshifters that the Cold Ones have brought dislike vampires, but there's only a select few of them and they live in Washington. They obviously don't have a vendetta against us, especially since they only probably just found out there was more than one race."

"I'm lucky I'm not one of them. Those Cold Ones are damn hard to kill," Masao grumbled.

"You bet your bottom dollar we are," said Reneesme. "And that's my Jake you're talking about! He likes vampires now. Seth always has. Leah… Leah is Leah. And the rest of them are nice!"

"We can discuss werewolf breeds later; we need to start searching for a Hunter!"

Moka, Kokoa, and Tsukune closed their eyes and looks of extreme focus came across their faces.

"How do you even know they're in the Bund?"

"We're not just looking in the Bund. I'm searching for the energy of that tracker, Demetri, and the twins following him."

Masao and Michio were shocked.

"You can't possibly stretch that far!"

But instead of Moka responding, it was Kokoa.

"Shut up," she hissed. "She's concentrating."

"That's right," said Michio, elbowing his twin. "She's got that Shinso blood."

They were all silent for a moment, until Moka gasped and came out of her trance.

"Germany."

"YOU CAN SENSE ALL THE WAY TO **GERMANY?**" Masao asked incredulously.

"It's easy when you're just following someone's energy. Demetri's found them, he and his covenmates are headed back now."

"Who are they?" asked the twins.

"Two, they appear to be boys but I'm assuming they're much older. Very large energies."

Tsukune swallowed.

"How big? I couldn't reach far enough."

"Massive."

"We are in some deep shit."

"We better go tell Mina," said Michio, ushering them back down.

"No! Then she'll know we snuck out!" said Nessie. "Besides, Demetri, Jane, and Alec will tell Aro, and Aro will tell Mina. We'll be fine, let's just get back inside!"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

The three Volterran guards were running at such high speeds that any hopes of keeping their cloaks on were obsolete. Jane and Alec's had blown back, revealing their school child-like uniforms. Demetri had donned his light, flexible leather armor even though he didn't actually need it to protect himself. He thought it made him look more professional and tracker-ish.

Oh, who was he kidding? It looked cool and he knew it.

"Sister, where are we?" asked Alec.

"Somewhere near the borders of Russia and China."

Demetri rolled his eyes. Of course they wouldn't ask him. They thought they were above him just because they were Aro's personal guards, and he was Marcus'. _Well, _he thought. _I'll show them! I'll find those damned attackers even if it kills me!_

True to himself, an hour later he located an old castle in Germany.

"_Questo è tutto!" _he announced proudly. _"Ecco i ragazzi!"_

_(That's it! That's the guys!)_

"_Meravigliosa," _said the twins, in synch.

_(Wonderful.)_

God he hated it when they talked like that.

The castle was decked out in white, and using his unique tracking ability Demetri could see his targets inside. Troy Megalos and Arix Kaiser.

"We shouldn't enter since we were only ordered to locate them. Let's return to Lord Aro," said Demetri.

Jane and Alec turned and followed their fellow guard into the trees.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Akira was leading the Cullens down through some dark alleys. So far they'd ran into a lot of illegal activity, some so violent that Akira had to put a stop to it with force.

"What are we even down here for?" asked Emmett, bored.

"Some vampires were identified as coming from a big gang in this area. We know their leader and I'm headed down to have a talk with him. You guys are backup in case anything gets nasty."

The dark brown-haired werewolf pushed open a door to a suspicious looking club, badly named "The Feeding Hole." It was full of scantily clad vampire women dancing practically everywhere, and vampire men enjoying the show, chugging down gallons of "Stigma," the poor substitute for human blood that was being circulated in the Bund. The Cullens were so out of place that is was ridiculous.

One vampire got brave enough to reach up and grab Rosalie's arm. Emmett, furious, reached over and knocked his head clean off. The vampires stopped their partying for a moment, but then erupted into laughter and continued. Emmett twitched, but wrapped his arm around his mate and continued walking.

Edward was being accosted by the vile thoughts of the lowlifes around him, and was having a hard time controlling himself. He whispered something in Bella's ear, and she extended her shield over him so he was no longer irritated.

Jasper was the worst. His empathy might have been his greatest talent, but in many cases it was also his weakness. Not to mention that the vampires weren't just drinking Stigma; a mass amount of human blood was also being served, and Jasper had the least control out of all his brethren. His eyes had gone totally black, and he was shaking, _hard_. Alice rubbed circles in his back to calm him down, but he was on edge.

A man in the back seemed to be controlling the vile scene. He was tan, red-eyed, and had spiky, semi-long hair that was flipped all over the place. His physical age appeared to be around 20, but the Cullens didn't doubt that he was far older. He had his arms draped over several girls who were all over him, and he was holding a glass of blood.

"Akira!" he called, waving the group over.

"Afanasii," muttered Akira. "We need to talk."

"Indeed," responded the man, now known as Afanasii. Although he spoke fluent English, he had a thick Russian accent. "Who are your friends?"

"These are the Cullens. They're visiting the Bund. May we go in the back?"

"Da, da! Follow me."

He got up and pushed open a door to a dark, empty room.

"Vat are ve discussing?"

"I'm sure you heard about the attack last night?"

His expression turned sour.

"Da. All of a sudden, several of my gang members just up and left! It vas ridiculous! Today I vake up and I find that they are all dead. Dead! Someone tells me that they vere all involved in last night's attack. I do not know vhy they left. I did not order them to. They left on they're own, ve could not stop them! Some ve even killed in an attempt to stop them."

Akira nodded solemnly.

"I understand. So you did not know of this beforehand and you had no part in it?"

"Net. I had nothing to do vith it."

"Edward?"

Bella dropped her shield around him, and Edward looked into his mind. The thoughts of the man told that he was not lying.

"He speaks the truth."

"Very well then. That's all."

"_Spasibo, chto prishli ko mne po etomu povodu, Akira," _spoke Afanasii politely.

_(Thank you for coming to see me about this, Akira.)_

"_Net, blagodaryu vas za sotrudnichestvo s name," _responded the werewolf.

_(No, thank you for cooperating with us.)_

Afanasii smiled.

"_Ya rad byt__ʹ__ poleznym. Pozvoni mne , yesli vam nuzhna pomoshch__ʹ.__"_

_(I am glad to be of service. Call me if you need any help.)_

They said their goodbyes, and Akira led the Cullens out of the club.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

At the end of the day, everyone gathered back in the throne room. Aro was smiling triumphantly.

The search groups had led to nothing. Akira had discovered that Afanasii had nothing to do with his gang members attacking them.

Moka, Kokoa, Tsukune, Michio, and Masao already knew what Demetri, Jane, and Alec were going to tell them.

Before they spoke directly to the crowd, the Volterran guards had a bit of a conversation in Italian with their leaders.

"_Abbiamo trovato il parassita," _said Demetri.

_(We found the vermin.)_

"_Bene," _replied Aro. _"Voi tre sará molto ricompensato."_

_(Good. You will be greatly rewarded.)_

"My friends, my people!" called out Aro. "We have discovered the location of those who wish our destruction!"

His voice echoed through the chamber.

"Demetri, if you will?"

The redheaded vampire nodded and stepped forward.

"The people you see are Troy Megalos and Arix Kaiser. They are Vampire Hunters, with a heavily protected castle in a German forest."

"How will we proceed, milady?" asked Aro.

"We will not attack them directly, nor will we attack immediately. Our forces need time to prepare, and they appear to be a formidable enemy. We will convene again in one month's time. Train your warriors! Over this month our Intel Forces will collect information on these demons who accost us. We will overcome!"

The vampires and werewolves in the hall cheered.

"Before we part ways, remember my suggestion! You all still have the choice to reveal your race's existence to humans! Think long and hard my brethren!"

With that final statement, Mina was escorted out of the throne room.

**Afanasii says "da" and "net" a lot which mean "yes" and "no" in Russian, respectively.**

**I realize that Afanasii has more of a German accent than a Russian one (he's Russian, that's why he was speaking it), but I'm going to keep it that way just because I can. The only reason I didn't flat out make him German is because his name means "immortal" in Russian and I like the sound of it.**

**No, Bella is not evil. All of that will be explained it due time.**

**Afanasii, Michio, and Masao will be recurring characters.**

**So far, there's going to be Romanian, German, Italian, and Russian.**

**So, there are three big things going on in the plot right now: the Vampire Hunters, the choice of revealing the races, and whatever's going on with Bella (well, I know what's going on, you don't).**

**ALSO! A little IW trivia time! You all know the vampire races: the First Race, the Nosferatus, the Royals, the Cold Ones, the Vampi, and the Elysians!**

**What about the werewolves?**

**Instead of werewolf races, they have breeds.**

**The first breed is the Rosario+Vampire werewolves. They are the original werewolves, and they are called the First Wolves. They are born genetically. Shortly after, a virus-like strain of lycanthropism developed. This produced the Children of the Moon*, a breed briefly mentioned in Twilight (they are supposedly extinct) that spreads with bites. Soon after, another strain developed, creating Akira's breed, the Evolved Wolves. They are considerably bigger and stronger than the First Wolves, and genetically born. Then there's Jacob's breed, which isn't really even a true werewolf. They are Shapeshifters, and to find out their back story, look up Taha Aki. They are, of course, genetically born. Not all of them even become wolves, it just depends on the amount of vampires in the area.**

***Okay, the Children of the Moon are coming back in IW. I recently saw the new Red Riding Hood movie, and all though it sucked terribly, it gave me an idea. The RRH werewolves are going to be the Children of the Moon. They transform on full moons and the virus can only be passed on during Blood Moons. Just look up the plot if you haven't seen it. I'm bringing Valerie and Peter from the RRH movie into this in minor parts, just so the Children of the Moon get a good spot.**

**Holy crow, I'm throwing a lot of lore into this thing :D**

**As always, I need quotes on vampirism! I barely found the one for this chapter (it's from Jasper, I thought it was cool). It can be from anywhere, even the series featured in IW!**

**IT'S ALSO CHRISTMAS! THIS MEANS YOU GUYS GET A PRESENT FROM YOURS TRULY! If you want more IW, I'll be posting a short, 4 page comic about the power outage on my deviantART page!**

**Check out rosarioalchemist456 . deviantart . com without the spaces! There's also an IW poster with Tsukune and Akira on it!**

**Happy Holidays!**


	5. Something Is Not Right With Me

"They had forgotten the first lesson, that we are to be powerful, beautiful, and without regret."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

_Two weeks after Mina's ball…_

"I think Mina scheduled her ball close to ours just to irritate us," grumbled Caius.

"Nonsense! I believe that spring is the season to host grand balls! To spend the night dancing away your worries in the warm air…"

Aro twirled about the main chamber like a ballerina on crack with an invisible dance partner.

The Volterran throne room was currently being transformed into a grand dance hall for the annual vampire ball that the Volturi hosted every year. Only the most distinguished guests were allowed to attend. Carlisle had been a recurring guest of honor for decades, along with his family.

This year, Aro had invited Mina to attend, which she had not done in centuries. She accepted and promised that she would make an appearance. Issa and his daughters were also invited, and they too had taken up the opportunity.

Due to his not-so-secret dislike of them, those of the Royals race had not been invited. Aro and his brothers were under the impression that they should have been the third race, instead of "those weak, hunted fools with their snobby, high class attitudes."

Jane and Alec were sitting on the steps in front of the three thrones, looking bored. Demetri was trying to coax them into helping out with the decorations. It was a brave thing to do, knowing the Witch Twins tendency to… overreact, as Athenodora would say. However, Demetri dealt with them the most and became less scared of them and more irritated.

"No," said Alec. "We're not slaves."

"Why you little _monello! _Have you no respect for your elders?" growled Demetri.

"Last time I checked, we were older than you," countered Jane.

The redheaded tracker sighed, and made some offensive gestures at the twins before walking off to work with the decorations. Felix bent down to the twins' level.

"Ignore him, he's just pissy because Heidi won't talk to him," murmured the gentle giant.

"Heidi was never interested in him to begin with," said Alec, absentmindedly watching Aro dance around the chamber. "She was just doing it for the sex."

"Exactly. Now, me on the other hand-"

"Felix, no one has a chance," Jane replied, bored.

"Psh, yeah right! No one can resist my manly manness!"

"'Manness' isn't a word," both twins responded.

Felix continued his pointless argument with Jane and Alec while Caius tried to get Aro to stop prancing around like a pretty ballerina.

Marcus just sat still and didn't say anything, like he normally did.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GET OFF YOUR VAMPIRIC ASSES AND PUT UP THESE DECORATIONS OR SO HELP ME GOD I'LL LIGHT ALL OF YOU ON FIRE!" screeched Demetri.

They all froze.

Even Marcus was a little shaken.

And so, they all got up and helped him.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Hime-san, is it really a good idea to be traveling like this with the threat of the Hunters?"

"They're not bold enough to single out me and attack. I'm sure we'll be fine."

Akira was still not convinced as the limo drove them through Florence, Italy. Mina was now ignoring him and looking at the architecture of the buildings they passed. The werewolf sighed and leaned back in his seat.

Wolfgang was in the front passenger's seat, directing the driver, while Masao and Michio were in the back with the Queen and her Knight. Beowulf agents followed in big, black SUVs behind them.

It was an hour or so later when they pulled into the small streets of Volterra. Jane and Alec were standing in front of the main doors of the palace, waiting.

"Jane, Alec," said Mina, acknowledging the two of them.

Mina had always had a soft spot for Jane. It originated in the two vampires' remarkable resemblance to each other, and grew in the long conversations they'd held. If the small queen was ever required to take a Volterran guard with her for protection, she'd most likely pick the twins.

"Milady," the two responded, taking a bow. "We have prepared rooms for you and your guard in advance."

"Thank you."

They led Mina and Akira through the front hall into the living chambers to an upscale living space in the heart of the castle.

"If you need anything, there will always be a guard in the hall."

She thanked them once more and they took their leave.

"See Akira? No worries. This castle is one of the safest places in the vampire world."

This was true. Castle Volturi was highly guarded and you really couldn't get in or out easily unless you were a guard, and all guards were extremely loyal, if not by choice, then by force. Chelsea had everyone in the coven besides Aro and Caius under the iron grip of her ability. She could make and break strong emotional ties as fast as you can blink your eyes.

"I guarantee you it will be nothing but peace and quiet from here on out," Mina said, smiling.

"LAST ONE TO THE THRONE ROOM IS A PILE OF ASHES!"

"NO FAIR EDWARD! YOU'RE TOO FAST!"

The thundering sound of feet and a whoosh of air sped past the room. Mina jumped.

"GUYS WAIT UP! YOU SUCK!"

"What the…?"

Akira poked his head out the door just in time to catch a big purple blur fly past him. He sniffed the air.

"Looks like the Cullens got here early too…" he grumbled.

"We've actually been here," said Alice, randomly appearing in the doorframe. "Nice to see you again, Milady!"

"It's a pleasure. What exactly are your brothers doing?"

"Racing," she spoke with obvious disgust. "I normally enjoy it, but they're going to get killed in this castle. If they run into Jane-"

She was cut off by the sound of screaming from the main chamber.

"I should have seen that coming. YOU MORONS!" she shouted down the hall. "I TOLD YOU TO TAKE BELLA WITH YOU!"

At the mention of Bella's named, Akira became visibly uncomfortable for reasons he himself didn't even know. _I feel like I've forgotten something important… _He shook his head.

"Akira? Are you okay?" asked the ever-so-concerned Mina.

"Yeah, I'm fine. No worries!" he said, smiling and giving her a thumbs up.

"Good."

She returned his warm smile.

"I'm sure Aro's been expecting me to speak to him. What say you? Shall we also race to the throne room?"

The dark-haired teen was caught off guard.

"What? Seriously?"

"Of course! Ready, set, GO!"

"Hey WAIT! That's not fair!" he yelled as she took off down the hallway. "AT LEAST GIVE ME TIME TO LOCK THE DOOR!"

When he got down to the depths of the Volturi headquarters, Mina was already in deep conversation with Aro. He was the most enjoyable of the leaders, due to his cheery personality and overall optimism. Since he didn't feel the need to be involved, Akira laid back and watched the Cullen boys mess around with the guys in the guard.

"Akira! Good to see you again!"

Based on his messy experience with having them help him restore the power*, Akira wasn't too happy.

"Yeah. Same here."

"Oh, don't tell me you still think we're self-centered!" pouted Edward.

"Because we are," whispered Jasper.

Akira rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"You guys are a mess."

"And we like it that way!"

They continued getting into play fights with Felix and Demetri, and finally roped Akira into a round of sparring. The hardened fighter was impressed by Edward's speed, Emmett's strength, and Jasper's quickly formed strategies.

"Despite your terrible attitudes, you guys are great fighters."

"Psh, yeah. Only the best!"

Emmett flexed his massive muscles, and Felix glared at him.

"Hah, we Volturi are the greatest! Tell 'em Deme!"

The gentle giant looked over to his guard buddy.

"_Siete tutti idioti."_

_(You're all morons.)_

Felix frowned, and went off to the corner to sulk.

"Akira! Come back to the room with me!" called Mina.

"So I'll see you guys at the ball tomorrow?" asked Akira.

"Of course! On the stage, to be exact."

Obviously, the Cullens had to showcase their musical talents in any opportunity.

Akira waved goodbye and followed Mina back to their chambers, where they slept soundly.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Friends! _Amici! Prieteni!_ _Druz__ʹ__ya! Freunde! Chingu! Furenzu! Péngy__ǒ__umen!"_

Aro went on to greet the crowd in several other languages.

"We gather here today in honor of a great tradition! The Volterran Ball has been held every year for centuries, and a great number of historical figures have attended! This year, we have a guest who has not been here in centuries! Our great queen, Mina Tepes!"

The crowd cheered as the blonde queen stepped forward and waved.

"It's an honor to be here! I'm sure some of you attended my ball a few weeks ago, and I apologize for the… interruption. I do hope a grand tradition such as this is not disturbed. I can assure you that those responsible for that incident will pay with their lives!"

The crowd of vampires raised their drinks and whooped.

"I shall turn the opening back over to our Lord Aro," she said, and stepped back to her throne.

"Thank you, Milady! Queen Mina is not our only guest of honor; Carlisle Cullen and his massive coven!"

Carlisle stepped forward and took a bow, then waved to his family.

"The Cullen coven has gained two new members: the infamous Bella Swan and her half-vampire daughter, Reneesme!"

Bella didn't seem too happy about being called "infamous" but she stepped up with Nessie and took a bow anyways.

"Per their request, the Cullens are providing tonight's music!"

The crowd seemed very pleased to hear this.

"And as you may know, Mina made a proposal at her ball. A proposal that we reveal our kind to the world!"

Mina smiled from her seated spot.

"We are still debated over our decision, but we have decided to give you an answer as soon as the Hunter crisis is resolved!"

Carlisle breathed a sigh of relief, as he was not prepared to deal with the people of Forks just yet.

"Now, let the party begin!"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Where's Jacob and the others?"

Akira had positioned himself in front of the stage, taking an opportunity to talk to Edward while they were on break from providing music.

"They weren't invited. Even if they were, I doubt they'd come. They can only handle so many vampires."

Akira snorted.

"They were doing fine at our place."

"That's because there were lots of other wolves mingling in the crowds. Besides, they wanted to go to that. Jacob isn't particularly fond of the Volturi."

"I'm sure. They did try to kill you guys a few times, right?"

"Bella and Nessie specifically," said Edward, taking a sip of wine and (animal) blood. "He cares a lot about both of them, so I can understand his attitude. I, however, cannot outwardly show dislike to the Volturi. One wrong move and we're all dead or trapped here under Chelsea."

"Chelsea?" the werewolf asked, having not hear the name.

"Her."

Edward pointed to a girl in all black sitting rather close to Mina and the Volturi brothers.

"Be afraid of her."

"More afraid than of Jane?" Akira joked, taking a swig of beer.

"Yes," Edward spoke very seriously. "She can bend anyone to her will faster than you can blink. If Mina was unaware, Chelsea would have her at the Volturi's knees in seconds. She's the only reason some of these guards are here, even Marcus."

"Why Marcus?"

Edward looked around nervously.

"It's not exactly safe to talk about that here, especially when we're surrounded."

Akira just now noticed the guard members moving swiftly and silently through the crowd. Jane gave Edward a friendly but knowing glare, and Edward nodded in return. He got up and motioned for Akira to follow him through the crowd. Soon, they were out of earshot in a small courtyard.

"Marcus' mate was a vampire called Didyme, Aro's sister," he began softly. "After spending centuries with the Volturi, the two began making plans to leave. Aro pretended to give his blessing to them, but instead killed Didyme secretly, as Marcus' gift was more precious to him than his own sister or their happiness. To this day, Marcus does not know. I found out through Carlisle, who was told by Alec and Jane during his stay with the Volturi. Aro knows that we know, and we've all been blackmailed into keeping it secret."

"What would happen if he found out?" asked the dark-haired teen.

"If Aro had the chance to counterattack, we'd all die. If he didn't, Marcus would kill Aro, and the Volturi would fall apart."

"That's helpful to know. Mina will like the information," mumbled Akira, taking another drink.

Edward hissed.

"She must understand that this secret has so many lives and people wrapped up in it, and so many deaths would be caused if she were to tell Marcus. It might be a self destruct button for the Volturi, but if it failed, so many would die."

"Gotcha. Still, if this Chelsea is so powerful, why isn't she the leader?"

"Aro pampers her and makes sure she is pleased. She wears the same cloak as Aro and his brothers, showing her high status within the ranks. Jane hates her for this."

Akira raised an eyebrow.

"Jane believes that she and Alec are Aro's favorite guards, and she's right. However, Chelsea gets too much special attention for her liking. She's like a spoiled brat. The only thing that keeps her from dragging us into the Volturi now is Bella and her shield."

"Your rulers are far more complicated than Mina," sighed Akira. "With her, it's just supreme power. You guys have all these powers and ranks and covens…"

"We weren't always under the Volturi. In early times, there were two empires: the Romanian and the Egyptian. Suddenly, the Volturi came out of nowhere and starting collecting vampires with exceptional powers. They conquered the Romanians, eliminated them, and then made a treaty with the Egyptians. Fighting continued between them despite the treaty, and they were conquered too. The only other empire since then was the separate Mexicans empires during the Mexican Vampire Wars."

"You refer to the leadership now as an empire?"

"Not to their faces. They believe they have absolute power. It's recently been made apparent, though, that they are not the only ones with power."

"Who's rivaling them?" asked Akira.

Edward grinned darkly.

"_Us. _With the addition of Bella and the wolves, plus our ability to easily rally others for our cause, we've made ourselves a formidable enemy."

"But we will not fight them."

The two turned to see Carlisle emerging from one of the castle doors.

"Although we could, we will not challenge the Volturi. We are not suit to reign."

Edward sighed.

"I know, Carlisle, I know. I just wanted to scare him a little," the redhead spoke, disappointed.

Carlisle shook his head and sent Edward off. The bronze-haired vampire trudged off to lean against an archway.

"Mina asked me to challenge them, but our family is not one of leadership, no matter how suited we are for it."

"I understand. I was merely entertaining your son in a little conversation on politics."

"Don't let him get into your head too much. He's far too smart for his own good."

Carlisle parted ways with the werewolf and headed back inside. The younger vampire stepped back up to the wolf.

"Any more questions?" he asked, grinning.

Before they could answer, an eerie scream echoed throughout the city. Their heads shot upwards towards the starry night sky. Edward looked to the castle doors.

"No one inside heard. Music's too loud. Should we investigate alone?"

Akira debated in his mind for a moment before responding.

"Sure, let's go."

They jumped up onto the castle roof and dashed across the top of the old Italian city. A minute passed before Edward spotted a bright white light coming from an alleyway. Another bright light erupted out of a distant alley.

"I'll take the first one," growled Edward, descending upon the alley while Akira went to the other source.

Edward landed with a soft thud. The only thing he could see that was off was a mutilated corpse. Upon further inspection, he found it was a woman. She was sliced up badly in several places by what appeared to be a huge blade.

"Hey there, _vrykólakas**._"

Edward whirled around, but before he could take up a defensive stance, a gigantic white blade came swinging down. Expecting it to do nothing but bounce off him or shatter, Edward did not move. Instead of breaking like he had expected, it cleaved off his left arm.

"Wh-wha…"

His eyes went wide, and his jaw went slack. In the one glimpse he got of his attacker, the teen clad in white was grinning wide.

The whole moment seemed to move in slow motion to Edward.

There was a loud thud when his arm hit the ground beside him. It broke the cobblestone pavement. The attacker lit a match and tossed it on the arm, which collapsed into ash and blew away in the warm night air.

The one mistake his attacker made in all this was that he underestimated his prey.

In a blind rage, Edward Cullen shot forward at full speed. Being the fastest known vampire alive, the attacker didn't have time to dodge, block, or attack. He was clawed across the face, blood rolling down into his eyes from the five deep gashes that were now leaking important fluids all over his face. He screamed in pain. Edward lunged again, this time raking across his chest. Red blood stained the white-haired teen's bright white cloak. He roared this time, taking a swing at Edward. Edward dodged. Another swing. Another dodge. Fed up with it, the teen clad in white disappeared in a bright white flash like the Edward had seen before.

However, Edward didn't acknowledge this. In his mind, the attacker was still there in front of him. His vision was clouded with red pain and fury. He screamed in rage and sped forward.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Akira found nothing at the sight of the second flash but empty air. He turned around to assist Edward when he heard more yelling and screaming from the direction Edward had set off in. He immediately leapt up and was shocked at what he saw.

Edward was tearing through the city's populations, taking down whoever he saw. It was a gory scene. He was ripping apart the crowds like they were wet tissue paper. Body parts and intestines were everywhere, limbs being cast aside, heads rolling through the streets, blood giving the walls of the houses a new coat of paint.

"Edward, no!"

The werewolf landed in front of the furious vampire in an attempt to stop him. He quickly realized that Edward didn't know what he was doing when the redheaded vampire slashed downwards across Akira's torso.

Akira transformed and grabbed the vampire's speedy hand. He was almost unable to hold onto the wily creature of the night, and almost unable to catch his hand as Edward was notoriously fast. As soon as his hand was restrained, he began kicking. Akira solved that quickly by using his massive hands to hold onto his hand and his feet at the same time. The Cullen twisted and writhed in the werewolf's massive grip.

The Volturi arrived quickly, led by Aro and followed by some of the party guests. Aro gasped, shocked at the bloody scene before him. Carlisle pushed his way through the crowd.

"Edward, what-?"

Carlisle could quickly see that his son was not in a correct state of mind.

"My god… What happened?" Aro asked.

"I don't know. We heard a scream, saw bright flashes of light, and split up to investigate them. I come back, and this…"

Akira shook his head.

Some Volturi guards came over to take Edward from the wolf.

Eyes still blind with rage, Edward was dragged off to the dungeons to be restrained.

Bella watched solemnly from the crowd as a slight red glow swirled around her.

***A spinoff comic called Power Outage was written about this event, and it's on my deviantART profile! Look up RosarioAlchemist456 on dA to read it!**

****It means "vampire" in Greek.**

**What Aro says at the beginning of the ball is pretty much "friends" in a bunch of different languages.**

**Cliffy? Heck yeah.**

**Overused word of this chapter: Volturi. Sorry for the Twilight overload, but it's kind of necessary to the plot :/**


	6. Possibility

"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Mina Tepes made her way through the Volturi castle in a flame of rage. Rarely was she ever this angry. All the soldiers that usually blocked entry to secret passages such as the ones she now walked stepped aside and let her pass. Akira followed warily, now wearing a red cloak given to him by a guard since he wasn't about to walk around without his clothes, nor did he think it would be a good idea to walk around in werewolf form.

He could understand why Mina was angry. To her, vegetarian vampires like the Cullens reminded her of the Fangless she hid in below the Bund. They were kind to humans, and kind by nature.

"Caius!" she roared, entering the dungeon.

The silver-haired leader turned from the prison cell to his queen.

"Milady?" he asked.

"What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"Restraining a criminal," he responded sourly.

Edward, now unconscious, was held to the wall of the cell with heavy chains. Jane and Alec stood unhappily in front of the cell, keeping him that way. Aro, distressed, paced back and forth in the small corridor while the third brother, Marcus, stood silently as always. Felix leaned against the wall with Demetri, giving Caius mean looks.

The worst of all was the Cullen family. Esme was in dry tears, being comforted by her worried husband. Emmett, Jasper, and Rosalie were furious, though the angriest of all was Alice. She had just finished verbally assaulting Caius as Mina had entered the hall.

Bella stood in what most of them had interpreted as shock. Normally her daughter would have been with her, but the half-vampire was sent home immediately after the attack.

"That boy is **not **a criminal! I demand his immediate release!"

"Milady, he revealed himself to several huma-"

"I don't care!" she screeched. "It wasn't his fault!"

"Hime-san…" said Akira, worried.

"Hush, Akira! This is no time for comfort! **Release him or so help me I'll-!**"

"Relax, Milady. It shall be done," spoke Aro softly.

In the heat of the argument, Aro had walked into the cell and read Edward's mind with his ability.

"The incident was not his fault. He remembers nothing… Jane, Alec, release him."

The black-haired leader stepped out to face Mina.

"I'm dreadfully sorry, Lady Mina."

She couldn't help but smile at him. Aro was the most sensible out of the three and for that reason Mina was glad he was in charge. _A perfect leader… _she thought, admiring him.

"It's not your fault, Aro. This only proves we need to act on this Hunter threat as soon as possible."

He smiled in return.

"Caius, Marcus, let us return to the throne room. The Shuzens arrived late and wish to express their apologies."

Caius growled and was about to say something, but Jane gave him a stern look. He was quiet.

As the brothers walked out, Mina grabbed Caius' arm for a second.

"Watch yourself, or you may find that you're not as powerful as you think you are," she hissed.

Edward was slowly regaining consciousness inside the cell. Mina gazed at him sadly.

"Alec, please, put him out of his misery for a bit longer," she said sadly.

"Of course, Milady."

Alec let his mist seep forward, and the redheaded Cullen passed out once more.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

When Edward awoke, he was no longer seeing the blurry insides of a prison cell, nor any place in Volterra for that matter. It was a bright white hospital room.

"Uh…?"

He looked around for a moment, wondering where he was and why. He tried to push himself up and off the bed when he realized that he could no longer move his left arm.

The reason why was apparent: it was no longer there.

Edward was no stranger to missing his limbs as his siblings often ran off and hid them when they were angry. It was a comment act of revenge in the Cullen household. The redhead fondly recalled a time when Emmett had broken his new piano so he took off with his brother's legs. Emmett didn't find them for weeks, and was forced to drag himself everywhere.

Now, however, Edward realized he wouldn't be finding his arm in the downstairs toilet. The events of that horrible night dawned on him and he was afraid. Afraid of what he did when his mind went red and he could no longer remember. He gripped his head in pain and screamed.

"Dad!"

His eyes flew to the doorway as his daughter entered, followed by his beautiful wife.

"Nessie?"

He grinned widely as she pounced onto the bed and pulled him into a huge hug.

"You're okay! Oh thank god you're okay!"

She slipped off him and let Bella move towards him. The brunette leaned in and kissed him quickly before pulling back just as the rest of the family entered.

They all voiced their worries, and their happiness at his recovery.

When the tender moment was over, Mina stepped into the room, Vera and Akira flanking her on both sides.

"It's good to see that you've pulled through."

"I'm assuming that I'm back in the Bund?"

"Precisely," she answered.

"Thank you for your help, and I'm really sorry about what happened…"

Edward was receiving a clear depiction of the terrors he'd caused from Akira's mind. It made him sick.

"I'm surprised that I'm still alive," he mumbled.

"Aro is kindhearted, despite some of his actions," she said.

Seeing as there were no tubes or IVs hooked into him as his skin was quite impenetrable, Edward lifted himself up and out of the bed. He stumbled for a second but quickly regained his composure and moved onwards. The group watched him open the door and step out into the hallway of the Bund's medical facility.

In the hall, Aro was waiting with Jane, Alec, Felix, and Demetri.

Edward was surprised at first, then scared, thinking they had come to kill him and that moment in the hospital room was his last goodbye.

To his surprise, Aro and the guard dropped down to their knees.

"We're sorry!"

They stood like that for a long time before Edward finally reacted.

"Stop…" he mumbled.

They looked up at him curiously.

"Stop it! Get up. Get up!" he shouted, waving his arm about. "Don't you dare be sorry for me! Ever! You're not sorry! You're not supposed to be sorry!"

He looked like he would cry if he could.

"You are not sorry! You are strong and you are prideful! You show no remorse, you take lives without caution! When I look at you I see what a vampire is and what a vampire should be! You're strong leaders! **You are not sorry for ME!**"

He had lifted Aro off the ground by the collar of his suit and was screaming into his face.

"I am worthless, stupid, ignorant, and stubborn, I overreact, I'm controlling! DO NOT BE SORRY FOR ME!" he shouted.

His face was a mixture of anger and sorrow, and if he could cry his face would be stained with a river of tears. Edward sat Aro down on the ground.

Aro did something else that surprised him.

He laughed.

Aro laughed and wrapped Edward in his arms, patting him on the back.

Edward embraced him too, in sadness and fury.

Mina watched from behind them, wishing all her subjects could be this way.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Meanwhile, in an undisclosed mountain range in Europe…

"Ugh, why do you guys live in a _mountain! _That is _so _uncivilized."

Aido Hanabusa, Darren Shan, Larten Crepsley, and Afanasii Solovyov were trekking through the rough countryside around Vampire Mountain.

Aido, raised in a society where vampires had grand mansions and behaved like noblemen, was pretty disgusted with the Vampi's way of life. Darren and Larten were pretty miffed at his presence, but honored him nonetheless. Afanasii was indifferent, and his disposition was as cheerful as ever.

"Are ve almost zere?" asked the Russian native.

"Yes," responded Larten. "The sight of the attack is just behind these trees."

They entered a small clearing to view a bloody scene. Body parts were strewn about everywhere, and the grass was stained with blood.

"We haven't totally ruled out the Vampaneze," muttered Darren. "But due to recent events, we believe it's Hunters. Besides, they left this."

A big, white cross was painted on several of the trees, and one gouged into the dirt near the side of the clearing.

"Unless the Vampaneze are playing an elaborate trick on us, the Hunters are getting brave."

"There is no rhyme or reason to these attacks," Aido pointed out.

"Precisely. Zey are just going for ze available targets. However, zose attacks on ze balls appeared to have planning behind zem. I believe ze _Okhotniki_ knew about ze balls and attacked zem on purpose, knowing a large amount of _vampiry _vould be gathered zere."

The three others nodded, seeing logic behind the Russian's reasoning.

"Ze real question is, how do ve stop zem? Although ve know vere zeir base is, it is dangerous to attack zem head on. At this point in time ve do not have enough men to fight for our cause."

"We have to trust Mina. I know she knows what she's doing. I have great faith in her," Darren spoke strongly.

"Still, this…" Aido nudged one of the bodies with his foot. "This can't keep happening. I have a feeling Kaname won't stand for much more slaughter, especially if there's an attack on the Royals. After what happened to Cullen…"

Word of Edward's injury had spread like wildfire. These Hunters had weapons that could break even a Cold One's skin. The vampire world was terrified of what else they had up their sleeves.

"Ve do know zat zey von't be successful in every attempt, though. Zey veren't too successful in zere prime mission at Volterra, vere zey?"

Larten shook his head.

"What if that was their prime mission? To show their powers? To stir up trouble?"

"Look, we're not getting anywhere with this! Let's just go back to your stupid Mountain and rest," groaned Aido.

"It's not stupid…"

"LET'S JUST LEAVE FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

They were knocked back a bit by Aido's outburst, but continued back.

"I'll get someone to clean this up when we return," mumbled Darren. "It's a sad, sad sight…"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"My deepest apologies, Lord Aro! We made the awful mistake of traveling by plane and the weather just messed up all our plans!"

Aro smiled at Issa.

"It's quite okay. It seems like it was a good thing that you missed it, because of… you know…"

"Ah, indeed."

The two lords continued in excited conversation while Tsukune sat awkwardly in Mina's office with Moka (Outer) and her sisters.

Michio suddenly slammed the doors open and rushed in.

"MY APOLOGIES FOR THE INTERRUPTION BUT WE HAVE LOCATED THE TOD BOY, HIME-SAN!"

Mina's head shot up from her paperwork, and the two vampire lords stopped to look at the boy intruder.

"What action has been taken?" Mina shouted demandingly.

"None, Hime-san! Our men wait on your orders!"

"Tell them to confront him! Waste no time!"

"YES HIME-SAN!"

Michio took off as fast as his abilities would let him, down, down, down to the communication rooms.

"Our lady requests a direct confrontation with the Tod boy and his mentor!" the vampire twin shouted into the microphone.

"_Yes sir!" _came the distorted reply.

The control room waited in nervous silence for what seemed like an eternity. A reply finally came.

"'_e and 'is mentor 'ave agreed to come meet Hime-sama as soon as possible," _spoke the agent in a thick English accent.

The control room let out and exasperated sigh and leaned back in their chairs.

"Thank god," mumbled Michio. "Okay, roll out! Bring the two back home!"

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Darren had almost gotten back to the mountain with the group when two big shadows blocked their path. They were wolf-like, and the vampire prince almost thought they were the wolves who had sheltered him, but upon further inspection he found they were far from it.

The wolves were big and mangy, with spiky black fur and gold eyes. One was more effeminate than the other, with a sleeker, more curved form.

"My god… _Zabyli Volki… DetiLuny…_" murmured Afanasii.

"What?" hissed Darren. "Crepsley! What did he say?"

"The Lost Wolves. The Children of the Moon. We all thought they were extinct; the Volturi killed them off ages ago…"

Larten and Aido looked on in wonder.

"Where did you come from? How are you here?"

The larger wolf approached them, and a voice radiated through the air.

"_Wir kommen aus einer alten Stadt namens Daggerhorn, in Deutshland. Wir versteckten uns von der schwarzen Umhä wissen nicht, ob wir allein sind."_

_(We came from a village called Daggerhorn, in Germany. We hid from the Black Cloaks. We do not know if we are alone.)_

"It's a full moon, isn't it?" Afanasii wondered aloud. "Marvelous."

"We mean you no harm," said Larten.

"_Gleiche," _said the wolf. _"Wir müssen gehen. Ich habe das Gefül wir einander wiedersehen wird."_

_(Same. We must go. I have a feeling we will see each other again.)_

"Farewell."

The two wolves strode off into the mist.

"Mr. Crepsley! What happened? What did they say?"

Larten stared at the boy, and then laughed.

"Ah, boy! We need to teach you German!"

Darren scowled and walked on.

"Let's just get back!" wailed Aido.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

The Beowulf agent sighed. He stood in front of Mina's palace in the Bund with the two Elysians at his back.

"Well, there ya go. Off wit ya. I ain't got time for the likes of you."

"The likes of us…?" Vlad started, but trailed off.

"Go on. Hime-san should be waitin' inside. Just as a forewarnin', she's got a few guests over. Some of the Volturi, and I'm thinkin' that Isaa Shuzen's 'ere too. They aren't too mean, though. Just don't get on their bad sides and you'll be just peachy!"

Otis shuddered. The agent pushed open the doors. Inside were the infamous Witch twins, engaged in conversation in Italian.

"_E 'solo così frustrante!"_

_(It's just so frustrating!)_

"_Calmatevi, mia sorella, perché non vi turbano Signora Mina ospiti."_

_(Calm yourself, my sister, lest you trouble Lady Mina's guests.)_

Aro suddenly appeared in front of them, speaking Greek instead of his usual Italian.

"_Epikefalí__̱__s píso__̱__ sto thalámous sas me ti__̱__ mía, anói__̱__toi! Nómiza óti sou eípa na mi__̱__n páei periago__̱__gí__̱__s gýro__̱__ apó mónoi sas!"_

_(Head back to your chambers at once, fools! I thought I told you not to go roaming around on your own!)_

"_Sì, padrone."_

_(Yes, master.)_

Jane and Alec rushed through the front hall in flash of black. No sooner had they entered, they were gone. Vlad stared on in silence at the foreign exchange. He noticed the difference between two different languages but had no idea what they were or what they were saying.

"Move along, will ya? 'aven't got all day, ya know. Hime-san don't like to be kept waitin' too long."

Mina sat in her throne at the top of some carpeted steps. She looked a bit bored.

"Hime-sane, I've brought the Tod lad and 'is teacher, Otis Otis."

She laughed a bit at the name, and then covered her mouth.

"I apologize, I've had a bit of a rough day. Now, you are Vladimir Tod, correct? The boy who set the Elysian society on fire…"

"I wouldn't say tha-" said Otis, but he was cut off.

"Quiet. Mr. Otis, I know you know who I am, and I'm sure you've enlightened this boy as to what importance I hold. I am the Queen of Vampires, all races fall in step with me. I have offered the other races a choice: reveal themselves to the world as I have with the First Race, or stay in the shadows. You two have been selected to make the decision."

"Milady, I-"

"I'm not done!" she said, cutting off Otis again. "In the past few weeks, a threat has been revealed to the entire vampire community. Hunters are after us again for the first time in centuries. In one month, we will gather here with our forces to fight them. I'm asking you to rally your race so we will have enough men to make our attack worth it."

"So, Milady-" Otis started only to be cut off for the third time.

"If I had wished to converse with you, I would have asked you about the weather. Take your leave."

The British vampire who had brought them in quickly dragged them back out.

"Well, that was wonderful," Vlad mumbled sarcastically.

"Hime-san is very stressed right now. She'd normally be a bit nicer, but too many things 'ave 'appened for 'er to be Ms. Sugar and Spice right now. She'll be more talkative soon, I'm sure. When she is, you'll be called right back for conversation, so I'd make myself comfortable in the Bund right now if I were you," said the Agent. "The name's Walker, by the way. Simon Walker. Call me up if you need anything. 'Ere's my card."

The scruffy redheaded English vampire handed them a thick paper card as he pushed them into the hands of some of the House maids. In no time the Elysians were made comfortable in one of the castle's many rooms, wondering what had just happened.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Edward was adjusting to only having one arm.

He'd been in this situation before. In fact, at one point in time he'd had no arms at all (he'd spray painted Emmett's Jeep pink). This, however, was different, since he wasn't getting his left arm back.

At least he was right handed.

His balance was a bit off. He'd tried to pull some of his old acrobatic stunts and fallen. Some of his combat moves were now useless. Video games were a lot harder. He couldn't play guitar anymore.

And piano, _oh god, _piano.

He thanked the gods above that he was fast. Playing just got a billion times harder. Of course, he wasn't asking anyone for help. He was too proud for that.

"I'm going to make you an arm."

Jasper's declaration had come at a bit of a shock.

"How?"

"There are technicians here who can help me. I know how to make metals that can be attached to our skin, and I know of one vampire-made metal that can't be broken. Vampiron. It's infused with blood magics of the like you've never seen."

"I'm not sure…"

"I'll do it. It's sad seeing you like this. It makes me hate those hunters even more. Look, Mina's already offered up her labs, the Volturi have given me money, and Lord Shuzen wants to contribute too. The vampire community wants to see if prosthetics can be made for our kind. If they can, we can make them for everyone else. I know you love to help people, brother, so let's help you to see if we can help everyone else."

The ex-Confederate made a convincing argument. Edward agreed.

How had this come about?

Soon after the metal was made in the Bund's laboratories, Mina called upon Carlisle and Jasper to brainstorm some uses for it. The immediate thought was weaponry, but because of his brother's sudden loss of a limb, Jasper thought of other uses for it. He dreamed up the idea for a prosthetic arm.

Human prosthetics aren't very advanced yet, and some can only dream of a fully functioning limb replacement. However, vampires have their ways. With the help of some employed masters of the magical trade, Edward's arm would be fully functioning without the use of electronics.

How would it be attached? Jasper knew of ways that a Stregoni's skin could be pierced. In the days of the Southern Vampire Wars, brands and piercings were applied by use of extreme heat. The brands would eventually fade, but a piercing would heal and stay in place unless removed. If the parts meant to attach to Edward's shoulder were heated to a high enough temperature, they should pierce the skin, heal, and stay that way.

Carlisle eventually theorized that cables could be directly attached to his nerves to connect the arm's movements to his brain waves. To do this, he would have to remove some of the already healed skin that had grown over the wound with a hot blade. Then, he could heat up the cables, surgically hook them to Edward's nerves, and weld the rest of the shoulder piece into place.

Then, Edward would have a fully retractable prosthetic powered by magical means.

This plan was far from being put into action. A design for the arm had to be made, the parts had to be ordered, made, and retrieved from Germany (the only place where a smith could be hired to create the mythic metal), and it had to be put together. The witches, wizards, and mages had to be hired to infuse it with magic to work. Then, the parts being attached had to be heated to over 2000 degrees to pierce the diamond-like skin of a Stregoni, and surgery had to be performed.

The construction itself would take a few weeks.

Overall, it would take around a month for Edward to have a left arm again.

For now, he just looked funny walking around with one arm. And he was happy with that.

**And so, another chapter of IW concludes!**

**There's not too much action going on in this chapter. They needed a bit of a break, though. After Edward's little rampage…**

**Hopefully, the next chapter will shift over more to R+V, Vlad Tod, and Aido's adventures at Vampire Mountain :D**

**Here's a bit of what to expect…**

Aido stood, jaw agape, eyes wide.

"You mean I have to SHOWER in a DIRTY WATERFALL? What's wrong with you people? You are _SO _uncivilized!"

Larten just rolled his eyes and walked away.

_Prissy boy, how he calls himself a vampire I do not know…_

**I love Aido :)**

**Also, the category might change for a bit to attract some new readers! Methinks I might cycle it through a few different crossover categories to get some attention. Never fear! Add it to your alerts and you'll always know when the new chapters come out!**


	7. Tsumeato

"We enjoy the night, the darkness, where we can do things that aren't acceptable in the light. Night is when we slake our thirst."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Moka, unsealed, once again found herself in her ruler's castle unattended and bored. This time, she was dragged away from Youkai without the choice of bringing Tsukune. Inner Moka hated to admit it, but she missed him.

Her seal itself was with her father, kept under heavy magical supervision so it would not break again. After the Fairy Tale incident, the Shuzens had taken many precautions so the seal would be as safe as possible. Tsukune was a bit tore up at the idea of Outer Moka being a fabricated personality, but Inner Moka had also grown attached to her, like an older sister. She couldn't bring herself to get rid of the pink-haired pseudo personality, nor could she hurt Tsukune like that.

She decided to give the Cullen kid (she called him that, despite him being at least a century older than her) a surprise visit.

Edward had been making himself comfortable in the Rehabilitation Ward. He insisted that he needed no help getting back on his feet and he was just fine, but the doctors still put him through regular procedure. Instead of doing the rehab exercises like he was supposed to, he was getting cozy with the nurses. Not _too _cozy, but friendly enough to be on a first name basis.

When Moka entered, he didn't notice her. He was sitting shirtless, engaged in conversation with a few of the nurses. One was chatting with him while examining his wound.

He was heavily scarred, and those scars weren't just limited to his left shoulder. They went all the way down the left side of his chest, almost to his abdomen. Whatever the Hunter had used against him, it was dangerous and magically infused with something awful.

To Moka, it was a depressing sight. Stregoni Benefici are the symbol of beauty and purity in the vampire world. They were untouchable, perfect, creatures. Even a Nosferatu like Moka could be scarred. But to see a Cold One defaced like this? It was like rust on a broken diamond. It was so far into the wrong category that she could almost cry.

Of course, she was a lot stronger than that. She kept her emotions in a locked box with no key.

"Hello, Cullen."

He glanced up from his conversation.

"Miss… Shuzen?"

"Akashiya," she corrected.

"Ah. You were the one who was chosen as heir during the ball."

"Correct."

There was a brief awkward silence.

"So, how are you doing?" she finally asked.

"Oh, splendid. It's been a bit rough adjusting, but I've caught on quite quick. Of course, you may have heard about my brother's project-"

"I contributed to it, yes. Personally."

He gave her a quick surprised look.

"Well, thank you. I never expected to gain this much attention."

"Seriously? An invincible Stregoni get's his arm chopped off at the Volturi's Spring Ball and you think it's not going to attract attention?" she asked incredulously.

He frowned a little.

"Well…"

"Well nothing, fool. If you weren't injured I'd kick you in the face," she growled.

"I'm not injured! Just slightly disabled! And I'd like to see you try to kick me!" he spat back.

"Very well then! Know your place!"

But the kick landed in an empty chair surround by nurses.

"What are you attacking? I'm over here!" called Edward, sticking out his tongue.

"GRAH!"

She launched another one at him, but he disappeared again.

"I don't think you realize that I have a reputation as the fastest vampire on record," he mocked.

"And I don't think you realize I'VE GOT DAMN SHINSO BLOOD!" she screamed.

This went on for at least an hour, and the Rehabilitation Ward was decimated by the end of it.

It ended with Moka launching a rather powerful hit at a structural beam that supported quite a bit of weight, and the offices above them suddenly came crashing down on top of them. This attracted the attention of several guards.

In the end, no one was hurt. Edward and Moka were given a brief scolding about fighting inside the castle, and Mina let them off without any extra punishment because, hey, accidents happen.

"So, even though I eluded you repeatedly and caused you to break a support beam, can we be friends?" he asked, grinning.

"You sound like a five year-old," she scoffed. "'Can we be friends?' Is that how you start all your friendships?"

"Not really, but it's the most straightforward."

She bit her lip.

"Well… okay," she finally mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said yes."

"Epic!" he shouted, doing a fist pump with his remaining arm. "I gotta go, see ya!"

Edward ran off down a side hall.

"He really is like a little kid," Moka observed, smirking.

She walked on to find something else to keep her occupied for the time being.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"_Spasibo, _Larten. Ve are happy zat you have provided us vith zese vonderful living quarters."

"Nobody said anything about _we_," grumbled Aido.

Aido and Afanasii were staring at their room, no, their _cave_. It was supposed to be where they were staying during their visit to Vampire Mountain.

"This is outrageous! How do you people live in these conditions?"

"We are strong, hardened, warriors, and we prefer the ways of old," explained Larten.

"The ways of old are giant, ornate castles! Ever seen Dracula? He wasn't spending his days in a freaking cave! He was living it up! The life of luxury!"

Larten's eyes narrowed.

"Older ways. Before your silly castles. Like cavemen."

"Dear kami, I'm spending the night with Neanderthals!" Aido screamed. _"Kono ky__ō__ki wa, kore made ni sh__ū__ry__ō__ shimasu ka? Watashi wa kore o eru tame ni nani o shimashita ka?_ _Ā__, Kaname-sama, nazedesu ka? D__ō__shite watashi ga?"_

_(Will this madness ever end? What did I do to earn this? Oh, Kaname-sama, why? Why me?)_

"What's he saying?" Larten asked Afanasii.

Afanasii dismissed the question with a wave of his hand, and instead turned to Aido.

"_Damatte jibun no h__ō__rudo o shutoku shi, sh__ō__nen!__" _said the Russian native.

_(Shut up and get a hold of yourself, boy!)_

Aido was a bit shocked at Afanasii's sudden prowess with the Japanese language, but dismissed it as he remembered how long the vampire had spent in the Bund, a mixing pot of cultures and languages. It was only natural that a crime lord like him would be multilingual.

Larten handed Aido a map of the main features of the mountain.

The blond vampire stood, jaw agape, eyes wide.

"You mean I have to SHOWER in a DIRTY WATERFALL? What's wrong with you people? You are _SO _uncivilized!"

Larten just rolled his eyes and walked out.

_Prissy boy, how he calls himself a vampire I do not know…_

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Edward's arm was being put together quite swimmingly.

Jasper walked casually through the streets of a small German town. It was the only place he could quickly have Vampiron parts molded. The blacksmith was an old friend of his from Maria's army who specialized in making mystical metals.

He was on his way to pick up parts when he saw _him_.

Arix looked just like the sketches Demetri had drawn. The Hunter was skinny, pale, and had those shocking blue eyes. His hair was bright white, which made him stand out in a crowd even more.

The ex-Confederate hissed.

The parts could wait.

Faster than the human eye could see, Jasper whisked the Hunter into a back room behind the Blacksmith's place. A hot fire made for smithing was burning in the corner.

"What? What is this?"

The blond vampire growled.

"Your buddy Troy chopped off my brother's arm!"

Arix chuckled.

"Ah, yes. Our weapons impress you? Steel strong enough to cut a Stregoni in half!"

"Silence!" Jasper commanded, venom in his voice. "You are going to pay for your actions. Not now, but soon…"

Jasper raised one finger and dragged his nail from Arix's forehead, over his eye, and down to just above his jaw. The Hunter held in his screams of pain and silently cursed himself for going out without protection. When he opened his eye, blood from the wound poured into it and blinded him.

"Not. Done," said Jasper darkly.

He slowly made two diagonal cuts through the first one, below his eye. Then he made vertical cuts through the two new cuts on each side.

"And so you won't forget who did this to you…"

Jasper held his Cullen crest over the fire until it was red hot. He pressed it against Arix's chest as hard as possible. The skin hissed and bubbled around the mark.

"This thing on your eye? It's the Mark of Fear. It means you won't die by my hand, but by my ally. Watch your back."

He released his grip on the Hunter's collar and went to collect his parts.

With those, the arm would be finished and ready for attachment.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Arix was having his wound cleaned by a castle servant. Troy was across the hall picking at the scabs on his chest scars. Res, the castle historian, was talking to Arix as the wound was being cleansed.

"Tell me of the 'Mark of Fear', Res."

"I assume you are familiar with Tritan, the son of Dracula?"

"Yes. He was killed by a Dracularian general in combat," said Arix.

"Yes. Well, that was, of course, Dracula's doing," Res spoke. "However, not in the way you'd think! One night, Dracula approached Tritan. He carved the Mark of Fear into Tritan's back. This Mark is a curse developed by the first vampire himself, and it means that the one who carves it will not kill the bearer of the Mark, but the carver's ally will."

The German Hunter sighed.

"Does it really work?"

"I'm not sure," mumbled Res. "All the history regarding it is very vague. Dracula's own races, the First Race and the Nosferatus, did not even accept it well. The Cold Ones, however, fully embraced it and it became an outstanding symbol in their culture. Since most Stregoni history is locked up in Volterra, I don't know much of its use. I do know that Aro himself used it on Krovik, the third Romanian. Krovik later died by the hand of Marcus."

The cut was completely clean.

"I'm sorry, my king, but I will not be able to heal your eye itself," the servant mumbled nervously. "That eye is blind."

Angry, Arix tossed the servant out the stained glass window depicting a field of slain vampires. It shattered, and the helpless servant hit the ground with a sickening thud. Troy got up to comfort his ally, but was shoved aside.

Arix screamed and walked out of the hall, slamming the massive doors shut on his way out.

Inside, Res just looked at Troy and shrugged.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Simon Walker made himself comfortable in the lounge in front of Mina's throne room. He had guard duty (by himself), which wasn't too much of a job. It would take someone extremely tough to make it through the first few halls of Beowulf members and Honor Guard agents.

If they did, though, he was prepared.

Prepared, but just a little bored.

He yawned just as someone walked through.

Oh. It was the Tod boy.

"'Ello there, mate."

"Hi…"

"You want somethin'?"

Vlad thought about it for a moment.

"I guess I was just bored."

"Well, me too, kiddo."

Simon laid back in his chair and closed his eyes. Vlad sort of stood there, rocking on his heels.

"So… What's it like? Being an Honor Guard agent and all that," Vlad finally asked.

"Well… Righ' now it's bloody boring. It occasionally gets excitin'. Findin' you and your pal was fun. Then when there's an attack I bust my arse tryin' to protect Hime-san, even though Akira does most o' the work. It's still a bit of a rush or somethin' like that. When you're fightin' Telomere's stupid lowlifes or an army of explodin' vampire slaves, it gets your heart pumpin', even if you're already dead."

He grinned big.

"Sounds pretty cool. Maybe I could do something like that," Vlad though aloud.

"Sure. Go righ' ahead. Sign up. It's like the army, 'cept we're not humans and everythin' is twice as deadly. And you'll end up on the telly more often. Folks are bloody obsessed with us vampires these days," he grumbled. "'Sides, your race is pretty much devastated, and I'll bet it'll be collapsin' soon. We can't find your people, so we can't very well help them. Without the Council, they'll be fallin' to bits soon unless they come to us lookin' for some way to govern. Maybe you can buddy up with the Vampi. They need all the help they can get."

Vlad looked at his feet and shuffled them around a bit.

"I guess you're right…" he mumbled.

"You bet I am. Ask any Honor Guard agent, they'll tell ya the same damn thing. The Elysians are _doomed._"

Simon got quiet and stared at Vlad.

"Sorry, kid. I'm probably bein' a bit too harsh. I feel bad about it, I really do, but there ain't much hope. Despite what some may think, vampires don't do too well without someone to rule over them. We're a very 'in the moment' species. Without any laws or control, we'll disrupt the natural order and plunge the world into chaos. The rest of the Elysians have no leader, so they'll be getting' panicky soon. Watch the news. You'll be hearin' about it. Not directly, like 'Vampires start killin' everyone!' but stuff like 'Mysterious disappearances' or 'Death count rises'. Not long after that-if no one steps in-they'll start killin' each other. Then, there'll only be a few left, and they'll die off too. It's just how we work."

"I think I understand," said the dark-haired boy. "Without laws or control, we're just a bunch of savages."

"Now you're getting' somewhere! It is a bit sad to see a race like the Elysians disappear. Maybe you and your buddy can round them up and save them. After all, we need more warriors. We won't last too long against those Hunters with so few men," said Simon.

"Thanks for talking to me, Mr. Walker. I think I might get some sleep now."

"Sure thing, kid. Enjoy it while it lasts."

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

A day later, Jasper was back in the Bund, parts ready for assembly.

"Let's move, people! Time waits for no man, immortal or not!"

With help from a few scientists, the arm was assembled quickly, in about an hour. After completion and a few checks, the mages were called in to work upon it. After reciting many spells and inserting a glowing red substance into the power core (located in the shoulder), Jasper hooked the arm up to a computer and started running a program that simulated brain waves sending out commands to the arm. It twitched for a moment, and then began moving as each of the commands was issued. The movement was smooth and exact, sharp and quick.

It was perfect.

"Carlisle! Prep for surgery! Let's see if we can get this attached to him," called Jasper.

He quickly unhooked the arm and carefully made his way to the surgery room where Edward was already waiting.

"Is this going to hurt?" asked the redhead.

"I saw Stregoni cry like babies when they were getting their ears pierced," said a vampire surgeon. "Well, something like crying. So, yes, it will. Very badly."

Edward swallowed and closed his eyes.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"**AUUUUUGHUUUUH!"**

Bella shuddered.

She, along with Mina, Moka, Kahlua, and the rest of her family were sitting patiently outside the surgery room. Screams of intense pain echoed throughout the corridors of the Bund's medical facility.

She dug her sharp nails into the armrests of the wooden chair she sat in.

Moka wasn't quite sure how she should be responding to this or why she was even present at this moment. Kahlua had pulled her away from her computer, her only way of contacting her friends at Youkai, and brought her here. She considered herself acquaintances with the Cullen boy, but never so much that she would sit here and force herself to listen to his pain (especially because she wasn't causing it). Apparently, her elder sister had formed some strange emotional attachment to him.

Mina was here because, despite her sometimes cruel and cold nature, she did care. As stated before, the so called "vegetarian" vampires of the Stregoni race were like the Fangless to her, and she made sure they were safe and healthy at all times. It pained her to hear someone as kind as him in such awful pain.

The rest of Edward's family sat in a worried silence. Occasionally they would give each other reassuring glances or stare at the room's double doors.

After an hour, Kahlua grew weary and Moka, being the more responsible one, suggested that they head off to bed. The elder sister protested, but was too tired to win the argument and grudgingly followed the silver-haired vampiress down the hall.

Not long after, Esme became too stressed to remain there. Emmett and Rosalie took her back to their quarters.

The emotional aura of pain was starting to get to Jasper too, and he followed suit with Alice.

This left Bella and Mina alone.

The princess moved from the seat beside Bella to the one across the hall from her in order to get a better look at the girl. Mina observed her for a moment when a glimpse of red caught her eye.

_Could it be?_

She shut her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear the fatigue from her mind. When she looked at Bella again, the brunette was trying to discern what had caused Mina's confusion.

"Something wrong, milady?" she asked.

"No, no. Just a bit sleepy," responded the ruler of vampires. "Sorry. I've been working a bit too much lately."

"I can understand. You can leave if you want. I'll be fine," Bella suggested.

"I wish to remain here. Edward's safety is a large concern of mine… Your entire family's safety…"

Her exhaustion caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep. Bella almost got up to see if she was okay, but decided against it. Akira walked through moments later and eyed the sleeping queen.

"Ah, Hime-san, always working so hard."

He sat down in the seat next to her and ran a hand across her head.

"You do a good job of taking care of her," commented Bella. "I don't think I've ever seen such dedication."

"Thank you. I made a promise to her when I was young and I don't intend to break it. Do you think she'll be mad if I move her?"

"Hmm. Maybe."

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll just go grab a blanket and a pillow from my room," he said. "She prefers those because she says they smell like me."

In her sleep, Mina smiled.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

Mina Tepes shot up out of her sleep.

"Woah! How long was I asleep?"

"Long enough," said a hoarse voice.

Her eyes watered with tears as she looked over to see Edward Cullen sitting upright in a hospital bed with a brand new mechanical arm.

"You're okay!"

"Ha, why would I not be?"

She blushed a little at her sudden outburst, but gave the Stregoni a gentle hug and stood up.

"I'm glad everything went as planned. It works?"

"Like a real arm."

He waved at her and it moved just as a normal arm should.

"It's also got a nifty, thought-activated sheathing feature," he added.

In the blink of an eye, the arm folded itself into a small metal cap on his shoulder, then unfolded back into an arm.

"I think I'll keep it folded up most times, though. Wouldn't want anyone asking where I got such an advanced prosthesis, would I?" Edward joked.

Mina smiled.

"Well, I've been resting long enough. I think the Tod boy finally deserves a proper conversation with me. I hope your journey home is safe, and I hope to see you again when the time comes. Bring your allies."

With that, the small queen turned and left. Edward laughed a bit at her proper demeanor, then rubbed his shoulder.

"That hurt an awful lot, Jazz," groaned Ed.

"Yeah, but you're better now, kay?"

"I was never sick!"

"Quit bickering, you two! Let's just go home!"

"What's the wheelchair for? I'm not _that _weak!"

"Standard hospital ward procedure. Get in."

"No! This is stupid!"

Mina listened to them bicker until she got out of hearing range. When she did, she smiled, knowing that her race was safe in the hands of honest vampires like those.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"_Imouto! _The Cullens left while I was sleeping!" screeched an irritated Kahlua.

"Oh. Yeah. They did."

"Stupid! Was Edward alright?"

"Yeah, he was fine. They strapped him in a wheelchair on the way out and he was complaining the whole way," explained Moka.

"Ugh. I guess I'll just call him later…"

"I can tell you're still tired. Go back to sleep."

"Seriously?"

"_Hai. _We're leaving later anyways, and you know you can't sleep on planes," warned the younger vampire.

"Fine…"

The elder vampire rolled back over in bed and fell into a deep sleep. Moka rolled her eyes and wondered why she got stuck with such a ditz for a sister.

**IMMORTAL * WALTZ**

"Vladimir Tod."

The half-vampire in question yawned and rubbed his eyes. Mina rolled hers at his laziness. _Typical teenagers…_

"I heard that," he grumbled.

"Right, you read minds."

"Not really easily, but yes. And like you're one to talk about teenagers. You're two feet shorter than me."

"But thousands of years older than you. Don't disrespect your queen," she scolded.

"Why do I need a queen if my race is falling apart?" Vlad shot back.

She sighed.

"Who told you?" she asked.

"Simon," he responded.

"Walker?"

"Yes. The dude with the British accent. Red hair."

"He knows better…" she growled almost incoherently.

"What?" asked the black-haired boy.

"Nothing. Look, I can stop that from happening."

Vlad hesitated.

"How?"

"Well, I am the supreme queen of all vampires. I have a knack for working the impossible."

He gave her a disproving look. Mina laughed a little.

"It's not that hard. Gather as many of your kind as you can together and I'll help establish a new ruler."

"And that new ruler is who?" he asked.

"You. You're the Pravus, aren't you?"

"I have no idea! I don't want to fulfill that dumb prophecy anyways!" he screeched. "Why pick me? I'm just a stupid teenager, right?"

She hissed, and the pupils of her eyes glowed yellow.

"You will continue to be one if you don't mature soon! Darren Shan is even younger than you, but look at him! He's a Prince! He's seen more death than you could stomach! Moka Akashiya is now lined up to be the next Lady of the Nosferatus! Yuuki Kuran was thrust into the hierarchy of the Royals without a moment's notice, but she adapted! Why can't you do this? Are you too scared, too weak? I don't care if your entire family has betrayed you and all that's left is your uncle, if you're smart enough, you can be whatever you want! Aren't you at least intrigued by the idea of power? Wouldn't you enjoy leading your race into a better future?"

Mina stopped, breathing heavy after screaming at the boy, who was now showing signs of fear.

"Listen to me, boy. Are you _afraid? _There is nothing to fear. Are you _worried?_ Worries are a product of your imagination. Are you _weak?_"

She paused.

"I don't think you are. I believe you can lead your people. Do you?"

Vlad shuffled his feet and looked around the throne room nervously.

"Yes. I think I can," he finally responded.

The queen grinned.

"Then, with my help, you will become their Lord. I hope you are ready, Vladimir, I truly do."

After much deliberation, he said "It's Vlad, your highness. Just Vlad."

"Alright then, _Vlad._"

Before they could shake on it, a loud boom echoed throughout the building.

"Hime-san!" yelled Simon, bursting in through the large throne room doors. "You might want to see this!"

She jumped up and began taking long strides down the steps and across the hall. Vlad, a tad bit confused, followed her. Otis, waiting outside, followed him.

The four vampires quickly made their way down several flights of stairs into a laboratory that became more cave-like as they went on.

"Righ' 'ere."

Simon pointed down into a huge pit. At the bottom, a disgusting black ooze popped and bubbled.

"What is it?" asked Mina.

"We're not quite sure, Hime-san. Scientists 'aven't been able to get any samples yet."

They leaned carefully over the edge, looking down into the pit. Vlad stepped just the tiniest bit closer…

The ledge crumbled beneath him, sending him tumbling down into the dark substance. No one reacted fast enough to grab him, and he fell straight into the ooze and was totally swallowed by it.

**CLIIIIIIIIFHANGERRRRRRRR.**

**Oh no! What's gonna happen to poor old Vlad?**

**Well, I know. You guys don't.**

**Sorry if it seemed like Edward's total recovery went too fast, but I wanted to get him and his crew back to Forks ASAP. They are no longer needed in the Bund (for now…). Also, Mina's catching on to whatever's going on with Bella! What is it?**

**Well, once again, I know. You don't. Ha. Haha. Hahaha.**

**Hopefully the next chapter will be up soon! Please keep reading and reviews are appreaciated!**


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